Episode 10, VS7.5 - Colonization 101
by Voyager Season 7.5
Summary: It's time once again for the annual Emergency Procedures Drill, and this year it's the doctor's turn to devise the scenario.


Episode 10  
Colonization 101  
  
by Julie Evans (Juli17)  
  
Prologue  
  
B'Elanna walked through Sickbay, deserted and silent except  
for the humming of standby systems. She strode into the  
doctor's office, where she found her husband's attention  
focused on the desk console. He was using a manual  
targeting device to move objects around on the screen,  
though she couldn't quite make out from her altered view  
exactly what those objects were. She watched his quick,  
jerky motions and the frown of intense concentration on his  
face for several moments before she spoke.  
  
"Tom."  
  
Tom jumped up from the doctor's chair. "B'Elanna..." He  
moved around the desk, looking at her with concern. "Are  
you feeling okay?"  
  
"I'm feeling fine," she assured him. She patted the small  
swell of her belly. "We both are."  
  
"Good." Tom looked relieved, then a little confused. "Is  
something else wrong?"  
  
"Does something have to be wrong for me to stop by and see  
you?" B'Elanna asked. "I'm actually on a break right now."  
  
"Really? So things are going well in Engineering?"  
  
B'Elanna smiled at the hopeful look in his eyes. "There are  
still a few minor repairs to be finished, but Engineering  
is basically back to normal."  
  
"Does this mean I'll get to see my wife tonight, instead of  
her falling into bed and passing out as soon as she gets  
home? Not that you don't look beautiful unconscious, mind  
you."  
  
"That's flattering to know," B'Elanna said dryly. With all  
the repair work to be done on Voyager after the damage by  
the Borg drones and then the confrontation with the Trefla,  
lately she'd gone straight to bed two nights out of three.  
Half of the time Tom was already there trying to get some  
sleep himself after a double shift. She knew he worried  
about her working so much, among other things, but she  
hadn't had any choice. "It looks pretty quiet here."  
  
"There've been no patients at all today. That's a first in  
over a month."  
  
B'Elanna heard the relief in Tom's voice. He'd spent  
whatever time he could be spared from the bridge helping  
the doctor with the injuries after the Borg attacks, and  
then helping deliver a cure to the disconnected drones on  
the Trefla. If they never saw a Borg cube again it would be  
too soon, though she didn't count on them being so lucky.  
"So, where is the doctor, and what are you doing?" She  
reached past Tom as she spoke, and turned the screen so she  
could see it. She stared at the odd diagram of  
interconnected channels that had some sort of small  
semicircular icons moving through them, gobbling up little  
dots in their wake--a geometric representation of  
nanoprobes at work in the immune system, perhaps? "Is this  
some sort of research?"  
  
"Uh, well..."  
  
B'Elanna's eyebrows rose as a small banana appeared and  
began to move through one of the channels. She revised her  
assessment; it must represent the digestive system--  
  
"Actually, it's a game."  
  
B'Elanna turned and stared at Tom. "A...game?"  
  
"It's one of the earliest computerized video games from the  
twentieth century. It's called PacMan. It's a fascinating  
piece of historical--"  
  
"Of course it is," B'Elanna interjected. She was familiar  
enough with her husband's boundless fascination with the  
twentieth century to know when to cut him off. "So this is  
what you do when you're covering for the doctor--play  
computer games?"  
  
"Hey!" Tom protested. "I already updated the last files the  
doctor left for me. These old two-dimensional video games  
were great for improving eye-hand coordination and keeping  
reflexes sharp, something critical to a pilot's  
performance."  
  
"Ah, so this is strictly a training application."  
  
Tom grinned. "Exactly. With no patients at the moment, I  
had to find something useful to do with my time." He put  
his hands on her shoulders. "Of course, if you *are* in  
need of a highly qualified medic, my expert services are  
available."  
  
"Are they?" B'Elanna trailed a finger over his chest. "And  
just what sort of expert services does a 'highly qualified  
medic' provide?"  
  
"That depends. Where does it hurt?"  
  
B'Elanna laughed. "That's a pathetic line, Tom. Generally  
I'd get you for that, but I'm feeling a little too sweet-  
natured at the moment."  
  
Tom's lips quirked. "Hmm. So I've noticed."  
  
"Enjoy it because it won't last." The doctor had said the  
odd placidity she'd recently been feeling was a temporary  
effect--from her Klingon hormones no less--and would wear  
off by her sixth month.  
  
"I know. I already miss scraping shields with you."  
  
She smiled. "You do?" She slipped her arms around his neck,  
and kissed him hard, just to prove there would still be  
plenty of scraping shields ahead for them. Tom's arms  
tightened around her and she sighed as he nuzzled her neck.  
  
"I miss you period, B'Elanna. Hell, these days we're lucky  
if we get to eat dinner together once a week, and it's been  
almost that long since we did anything but sleep in our  
bed."  
  
"I know. But this probably isn't the right place to address  
that issue."  
  
"The supply closet has a lock, remember? It worked out  
pretty well for us last time."  
  
B'Elanna smirked. "As I recall you ended up with several  
bruises, and it took us nearly an hour to put back  
everything that fell off the shelves." It had also been  
during the third shift, when Tom had worked a lot of those  
shifts after his month in the brig. Right after, in fact,  
so that probably explained why she'd been so willing to  
forgo caution.  
  
Tom grinned impudently. "I'm willing to take the chance."  
  
B'Elanna shook her head. "I have to be back in Engineering  
in less than ten minutes." She groaned as Tom's fingers  
trailed over her spine in caressing strokes and drifted  
lower. He knew it drove her wild when he was gentle, but  
she steeled herself as his lips brushed hers. "Tonight I  
promise we'll make the time--"  
  
"Ah, Lieutenant Paris. I see you're keeping yourself busy."  
  
B'Elanna pulled away from Tom as the doctor strode into his  
office. She hadn't even heard him enter Sickbay.  
  
"Back from the holodeck so soon, Doc?" Tom asked.  
  
"Have I interrupted a patient consult? Or was that a new  
method of treatment?"  
  
"I was performing a massage," Tom said, not missing a beat.  
"Pregnancy puts a lot of stress on the lower back."  
  
"Indeed, it does. However, your hands were several  
centimeters below the lieutenant's lower back. Perhaps a  
remedial course in anatomy would be helpful. Lieutenant  
Torres, if you are experiencing back pain--"  
  
"My back is fine!" B'Elanna said sharply.  
  
"Excellent." The doctor shifted his attention to the PADD  
he was holding. "Then I can continue working on my plans  
for the annual emergency procedures drill. I'm sure you  
recall that it is my turn to organize it this year. I've  
just been refining my holoprogram."  
  
B'Elanna had completely forgotten about the annual drill.  
With the events of the past few weeks, she suspected  
everyone else had too. "Your drill is a holodeck program?"  
  
"I believe two years ago your drill took place on the  
holodeck."  
  
"Well, I was hardly going to eject the *real* warp core and  
reinstall it," B'Elanna said. "It was a standard training  
simulation already on file."  
  
"So, why do you need the holodeck, Doc?" Tom asked.  
"Releasing some sort of virulent holographic plague for us  
to contain?"  
  
The doctor waved his hand dismissively. "We've contained  
enough real plagues already. I decided my drill should  
focus on something a little more challenging; a situation  
for which we've never adequately prepared ourselves. It  
will give the crew the opportunity to call on skills they  
haven't fully utilized on Voyager, and learn a few new ones  
that could be vital should we ever face this particular  
situation."  
  
B'Elanna thought it sounded like something that was going  
to interfere with her work, but Tom said, obviously  
intrigued, "Sounds interesting."  
  
"Since it's not convenient for us to land on a class M  
planet for several days, I've created one. In fact, it's  
ready and waiting."  
  
Tom looked at B'Elanna and she shrugged. He took the bait.  
"Ready and waiting for what?"  
  
"For habitation, of course." The doctor beamed. "I'm  
calling my version of the annual emergency procedures drill  
'Colonization 101'."  
  
Act One  
  
At the senior officers briefing two hours later, Janeway's  
frown was directed at the doctor. "Doctor, I don't  
think..."  
  
"You haven't heard me out yet."  
  
That was true. But the words "holodeck program" had been a  
red flag when combined with the doctor's tendency toward  
dramatics. Janeway glanced at her senior officers gathered  
around the briefing table, then back at the doctor. "I'm  
considering skipping the annual emergency procedures drill  
this year." She actually hadn't had time to think about it  
either way, but now it seemed like a good idea. "With  
everything the ship has been through over the past few  
weeks, it would probably be redundant. And we're still not  
finished with all the repairs--"  
  
"We've never skipped the drill before when the ship has  
been in less than optimal shape," the doctor protested.  
  
"The drill is a matter of protocol, Captain."  
  
Janeway transferred her gaze to Tuvok. "That is true,  
Commander. However, regulations do allow postponement or  
cancellation should more critical matters take precedence."  
  
"According to the latest reports, the major repairs are all  
completed." Chakotay glanced at B'Elanna for confirmation.  
  
B'Elanna nodded reluctantly. "But there are still more  
repairs to be done in Engineering."  
  
"Minor repairs," the doctor noted cheerfully. "My drill  
won't interfere with that work at all."  
  
"We're also traveling through dangerous territory where we  
may need to defend ourselves at a moment's notice," Janeway  
said. "We can't afford to let our guard down."  
  
"I agree, Captain. That is the beauty of using the holodeck  
for my drill. It doesn't tie up any critical ship's  
systems, and it can be shut down at a moment's notice  
should that become necessary."  
  
Janeway frowned. It was difficult to refute the doctor's  
reasoning. Generally, when their yearly turn to run the  
emergency procedures drill arrived, each senior officer  
applied the drill to his or her own field, as Tuvok had  
conducted a counter-invasion security lockdown in the third  
year, and B'Elanna a warp core ejection and retrieval in  
the fifth year. "Am I to assume your drill will involve a  
holographic medical crisis?" she asked. Not that they  
hadn't just dealt with several, including one that hadn't  
even been their own.  
  
The doctor shook his head, and reiterated Janeway's own  
thought. "We've experienced several real medical crises,  
and I believe we are adequately prepared to handle them,  
under my expert guidance of course. I've decided to focus  
on a situation where we've had little real experience.  
Quite honestly, Captain, it was our narrow escape from the  
Borg recently, and our assistance to the Pozjan that  
brought the scenario to mind. Had we not been so fortunate-  
-"  
  
"Tell me this isn't an evacuation drill," Janeway demanded.  
Besides the fact that Tom had conducted an evacuation drill  
in year four, complete with a recapture of the ship using  
their aging pre-Delta Flyer shuttle fleet--a maneuver Tuvok  
had deemed completely unfeasible though the crew still  
remembered it fondly--they had faced too many attempted  
takeovers of Voyager recently. She didn't like the idea of  
going through an evacuation, even in a simulation.  
  
"Well...not exactly," the doctor said. "Though evacuation  
is admittedly a precursor in my particular scenario. My  
drill deals with the crew colonizing a planet."  
  
"Colonizing a planet?" Janeway echoed, momentarily at a  
loss. The rest of the senior staff looked equally  
surprised, except for Lieutenants Paris and Torres.  
  
"As I said, it is the one eventuality for which we have not  
completely prepared."  
  
"Because it's not going to happen."  
  
The doctor looked flustered at Janeway's snapped statement.  
"Perhaps not, but the purpose of the emergency procedures  
drill is to prepare the crew for any possible fate."  
  
"The doctor is correct," Tuvok interjected. "Colonization  
has always been a potential outcome of our journey should  
the ship be lost, or rendered unsalvageable. It would be  
reasonable to prepared ourselves to whatever extent is  
possible."  
  
"Voyager is fine," Janeway said shortly. "We've always  
recovered from whatever fate has dealt us, including our  
most recent confrontations with the Borg."  
  
"The point is, we can't know the future," Chakotay said.  
"We're still facing over twenty years of travel through  
unknown territory, and we don't know what obstacles we may  
encounter. We've almost had to colonize a couple of times  
in the past."  
  
"But we haven't," Janeway said, with a hard look at  
Chakotay.  
  
"Captain, I also believe the doctor's drill has merit,"  
Seven said.  
  
"Besides, it could be fun."  
  
"Fun, Lieutenant Paris?" Janeway speared Tom with a  
withering look.  
  
Tom was unfazed. "It's been a tough few weeks, Captain. We  
could all use an opportunity to think about something  
else."  
  
"Exactly," the doctor said. "The crew has been through some  
traumatic events recently, and they need a chance to  
rejuvenate."  
  
"I agree," Neelix said, speaking for the first time. "This  
might be very good for morale, especially since we had to  
postpone our Olympics."  
  
"It's too bad I couldn't cannibalize more of the holodeck's  
power source," B'Elanna muttered, just loud enough to be  
heard. Then she added reluctantly, "But the drill shouldn't  
interfere with the repair schedule, if the crew  
participates in shifts."  
  
"That is my plan," the doctor said. "For six days the crew  
can work shortened shifts, and spend several hours a day  
taking part in the colonization drill on a rotating basis."  
  
"Six days?" Janeway echoed.  
  
"I never said anything about working *shorter* shifts,"  
B'Elanna protested.  
  
"It is workable though," the doctor prodded.  
  
Janeway looked at her senior officers. She was familiar  
with the generally positive status reports from all  
departments, and she couldn't come up with a good reason to  
refuse the doctor his turn at the drill. Her assembled  
officers were clearly in favor of it, even if B'Elanna  
would rather focus on her engines, and Harry's silence  
signaled his assent. She knew the idea had some merit, if  
only to broaden the skills of her crew.  
  
Janeway returned her attention to the EMH. "Very well,  
Doctor. You may conduct your colonization drill. However,  
if it interferes in any way with the needs of the ship, or  
the crew, it will be terminated."  
  
"Understood, Captain."  
  
"You can work with Commander Chakotay to rearrange the duty  
shifts to accommodate your drill. We'll start tomorrow."  
The sooner it was completed the better, as far as Janeway  
was concerned. "Commander Tuvok, please make the  
announcement to the crew. The rest of you, work with your  
departments to make sure systems will be monitored  
adequately during the exercise. Dismissed."  
  
The officers rose and began to file out, the doctor talking  
animatedly to Seven, Tom saying something quietly to  
B'Elanna that elicited a shrug, and Tuvok and Harry  
following in silence. Chakotay remained behind as the door  
closed, and Janeway sighed. "Is there something else,  
Commander?"  
  
"This is one of those rare occasions where I agree  
completely with Tom."  
  
"The stars must be aligned," Janeway said.  
  
Chakotay ignored her sarcasm. "Besides the skills the crew  
will learn, or relearn as the case may be, they could use a  
diversion after the stress of the past few weeks. So could  
you."  
  
"Is that your way of telling me you're putting me in the  
rotation?"  
  
"Since when doesn't everyone on the ship participate in an  
emergency procedures drill, including the captain?"  
  
Unfortunately he had a point. "Still, a holoprogram..."  
  
"Well, this is Voyager," Chakotay noted, flashing a brief,  
wry smile. "Now that we've hopefully seen the last of the  
Borg for awhile, there's nothing like a holoprogram to give  
everyone a sense of normalcy again."  
  
"That's one way of looking at it," Janeway said, thinking  
that Chakotay was being a overly-optimistic on the first  
assumption, as was often his nature, though he understood  
reality as well as anyone. "I hope you're right about the  
Borg." She turned to reach for her PADD when Chakotay spoke  
again behind her.  
  
"Kathryn..."  
  
Janeway straightened and met his direct gaze.  
  
"This is only a holodeck simulation, you know."  
  
Her eyebrows rose. "I know."  
  
Chakotay nodded and slipped out the door, leaving Janeway  
staring after him, wondering why he'd felt motivated to say  
that.  
  
^*^*^*^  
  
Chakotay stood next to the doctor, looking over the chosen  
settlement site for the colony. It had potential. The  
ground was flat and grassy, with widely scattered trees.  
The surrounding land was arable, and a river less than a  
kilometer away would provide fresh water, as well as lumber  
from the denser woods along its bank.  
  
"Good choice, Telfer and Henley," Chakotay complimented the  
two, whose combined geology and surveying backgrounds had  
been valuable in locating the best site on the doctor's  
simulated planet.  
  
"We didn't have time to check for every potential problem,  
but this does seem to be the most suitable site. We're in a  
temperate zone, so the weather should remain mild, and in  
the middle of a tectonic plate, so the chance of quake  
activity is minimal."  
  
"Each planet is unique, Mister Henley," the doctor said.  
"Since this is a training drill, I have added in a few  
difficulties to challenge us all. Weather variations, local  
wildlife, that sort of thing."  
  
Telfer looked alarmed. "Local wildlife?"  
  
"The initial biological survey showed a variety of animal  
life from insects to mammals, Crewman, typical on a class M  
planet. We'll take appropriate precautions."  
  
Telfer still looked worried despite Chakotay's assurance.  
Henley appeared less concerned, no doubt aware that the  
holodeck safeties were engaged, so any encounters wouldn't  
result in real injuries.  
  
"This looks like a pretty decent site for a colony," Tom  
said as he approached with B'Elanna and Harry. "So, what's  
the plan?"  
  
The doctor studied the PADD in his hand. "I took the  
initiative of drawing up a blueprint for the settlement."  
  
"That's pretty elaborate, Doc," Tom said as he peered over  
the doctor's shoulder.  
  
From the doctor's other side Chakotay saw that it did look  
like a draft for a small city rather than for a fledgling  
colony. "Perhaps we should start out a little simpler,  
Doctor."  
  
Tom stabbed at the PADD with one finger. "What's this? 'EMH  
Music Hall'?  
  
Chakotay looked at the spot Tom had indicated. He noticed  
the buildings were labeled in small print with names like  
"Mess Hall" and "Granary." Sure enough the one Tom had  
indicated read "EMH Music Hall."  
  
B'Elanna snorted. "Are you kidding? A music hall?"  
  
"Culture is vital to the well being of any sentient  
population, Lieutenant. The hall will serve as a location  
for gatherings similar to the music nights we now have on  
Voyager, when Lieutenant Kim plays the clarinet, and Mister  
Tuvok the Vulcan lute, among others. Perhaps your husband  
can debut that 'rock and roll' band he's been threatening  
us with."  
  
"And you'll no doubt be singing your favorite opera  
selections," Tom said.  
  
"As well as other selections in my repertoire," the doctor  
replied, his smile smug.  
  
"How modest of you to name the building after yourself,  
Doctor," Harry said sarcastically.  
  
"Actually, there are thousands of EMH's in the galaxy now,  
so the name is a tribute to the combined loyalty and  
unselfish service of all my brethren in Starfleet--"  
  
"Where is the sickbay?" B'Elanna demanded, pressing against  
Tom for a closer look. "I hope you're planning to provide  
medical care sometime inbetween your opera performances,  
not to mention provisions for the children who will be born  
as the colony expands."  
  
"Of course." The doctor pointed to a spot on the PADD  
screen. "The infirmary is right here. Don't worry,  
Lieutenant. I've already considered the needs of a growing  
colony, including expanded child care. Your baby will be in  
good hands."  
  
"If she's born in the next six days," Harry said. "This is  
a just a holoprogram."  
  
Chakotay decided it was time to get things back on track.  
"Doctor, fascinating as your detailed plans are, Mister Kim  
is right. This is a simulation encompassing the first six  
days of a colony raising, so I think we should concentrate  
on the basics. We need protection from the elements first  
of all, so we'll start with the dormitories that will  
provide initial shelter for everyone, and a storage  
building for our food supplies. The rest of the buildings  
are secondary." Some more so than others, but he left that  
unsaid.  
  
"We don't have much to work with," Harry noted glumly,  
looking at the small pile of prefab materials and tools  
that had been "salvaged" from Voyager, along with a single  
portable power generator.  
  
"I've worked with less," Chakotay replied. "If we can get  
the first dormitory up by tonight, it will save us having  
to sleep crammed under the emergency tarps."  
  
Harry frowned. "No one is really going to be sleeping here,  
are they?"  
  
"No," Chakotay replied. The captain had ordered that the  
program run only seventeen hours a day so it wouldn't tax  
the crew or compromise the running of the ship. "But we are  
acting as if we would be sleeping here, so we need shelter  
built within a day. We'll divide by tasks. Chell and Megan  
Delaney have already consulted with Neelix on teams to  
handle food storage and procurement. Part of their job will  
be foraging in the local area for edible fruits and plants,  
since our food stores will only last a month, even with  
careful rationing."  
  
Several crewmembers who had been wandering curiously nearby  
drifted closer as Chakotay spoke. "Lieutenant Torres has  
put together engineering teams to deal with setting up a  
power grid, and locating local energy sources to serve our  
needs, as well as adapting the energy from one of the two  
Class 2 shuttles we were able to recover. We'll keep the  
other shuttle intact for future use."  
  
"It's too bad the Delta Flyer was lost along with Voyager,"  
Tom said, giving the doctor an aggrieved look. "It would  
have come in a lot more useful than a Class 2 shuttle."  
  
"It seems a little arbitrary," Henley agreed. "We could  
just as well have kept Voyager in orbit and salvaged  
everything. It would at least be nice to have some portable  
replicators and one of the computer cores."  
  
The doctor shrugged. "In this scenario, Voyager sustained  
too much damage from the anomaly to land. Starfleet  
protocol requires an abandoned ship be destroyed rather  
than allowing its technology to potentially fall into the  
wrong hands."  
  
"You're right, Ensign, it is arbitrary," Chakotay said. "So  
is reality. If we ever do have to colonize, we'll just have  
to take the nearest class M planet available, if there is  
one. And there's no way to predict what we'll be able to  
salvage. If you recall, several years ago we were almost  
forced to colonize a planet with nothing but the clothes on  
our backs, thanks to the Kazon. In this case, the doctor's  
scenario has provided us with a little more than that. So  
let's work with it."  
  
"I'll take my team and get started," B'Elanna said, and  
Chakotay threw her a grateful look.  
  
"I can enhance the systems of the existing shuttle for  
atmospheric flight," Tom said.  
  
"A good idea, Tom, but not a concern at the moment. Right  
now the priority is getting the first buildings erected and  
our food supply stabilized. Have you ever used a saw or a  
hammer?"  
  
"Once or twice," Tom admitted, reluctantly.  
  
Chakotay smiled. "Well, now you'll be getting some more  
practice. Everyone here who isn't part of Lieutenant  
Torres' engineering team, you're part of the construction  
team. The tools we were able to salvage from Voyager's  
cargo bays are gathered next to the prefab materials. Grab  
the saws, because the first thing we have to do is cut down  
some trees."  
  
Several groans greeted that statement. B'Elanna, who looked  
amused, spared a murmured word or two for Tom, and quick  
pat on his backside before she led her team away. The  
doctor turned to Chakotay once the rest had moved toward  
the prefab materials and tools, looking peeved. "This is my  
drill. Shouldn't I be giving the orders?"  
  
"This will be a Starfleet colony, Doctor, at least in the  
building stages, and I am the highest ranking officer here.  
I also have some experience with colonies."  
  
"New Earth?" the doctor asked, his tone dismissive.  
  
"Among others. I also grew up on a colony world, Doctor, in  
case you've forgotten."  
  
The doctor's only reply to that was "hmmph," a good sign.  
  
"Shall we join the others?"  
  
The doctor looked at the group of a dozen or so now picking  
through the tools. "Join them?"  
  
"Of course, Doctor. When a Starfleet team erects a colony  
site, there are no sideliners, not even the captain or the  
senior officers in charge. Everyone pitches in." He smiled  
and slapped the doctor on the back. "Come on. Let's get to  
work."  
  
^*^*^*^  
  
Nearly six hours later, Janeway approached the colony site  
where a good number of her crew were busy at various tasks.  
The new settlement boundaries had been marked, and two  
foundations had been poured, presumably with the duracrete  
from the empty bags discarded nearby. There was a river a  
short distance away if she recalled the doctor's brief  
description of the chosen site accurately, probably where  
she could see a line of trees to the west. She skirted a  
large pile of yellow lumber and prefab panels, and watched  
a dozen of her crew hammering at the frame of the first  
building. Some, like Gerron and Michael Ayala, looked like  
they were very comfortable with the job, while others, like  
Tal Celes and William Chapman, looked less at ease. She  
noted offhandedly that Chakotay was visible over at the  
second building, looking like he was in his element--  
  
"Captain! You're here!"  
  
Janeway turned and met the doctor's pleased smile. "This is  
the time you assigned me, Doctor." Actually, she was a few  
minutes early.  
  
"As you can see, we've made quite a bit of progress."  
  
She supposed so. Though she had little experience to judge,  
she knew her crew had learned to make quick work of any  
necessary task.  
  
"We?" Harry grumbled loudly. He was working close enough to  
overhear the doctor's words. "You've barely hammered in a  
nail, Doc."  
  
Before the doctor could speak a loud "Ouch" erupted over  
the steady pounding and low murmur of conversation,  
followed by a colorful curse in Bajoran. Tal Celes, who was  
working on the other side of Harry, was cradling her hand,  
a grimace of pain on her face.  
  
"Again, Crewman?" the doctor asked, heaving a long-  
suffering sigh as he pulled out his field medical  
regenerator and stepped into the open frame building, still  
directing his conversation to the captain. "Lieutenant Kim  
thinks I've been loafing, but I've treated two dozen  
smashed thumbs now, and a nearly equal number of bruised  
toes from dropped power saws. It's amazing we have made any  
progress, and it's clear the crew needed this drill even  
more than I thought."  
  
Celes rolled her eyes at the doctor's bent head as he ran  
the regenerator over her thumb, then caught the captain's  
gaze. "I guess some of us aren't cut out for carpentry,"  
she said sheepishly.  
  
Janeway smiled. "Just do the best you can."  
  
"It's a good thing the safeties are at full capacity," the  
doctor said as he shut off the regenerator. "They correct  
for anything but minor injuries. If this were a real  
planet, there wouldn't be any such reprieve. Try to  
concentrate on what you're doing, Crewman, and be more  
careful."  
  
"Lucky for you, we're done for now," Tom told Celes, as he  
set down his hammer.  
  
Celes gave him a droll look. "And how's your foot, Paris?"  
  
Tom grinned. "Fine, now."  
  
Janeway was glad to see Celes smiling and showing so much  
spirit. She and Billy Telfer had become close to Mortimer  
Harren after their shuttle mission, and Harren's death had  
been difficult for Celes.  
  
"Captain," the doctor spoke, and Janeway gratefully shifted  
her attention from the ache that had settled in her chest.  
"What do you think of this site? It is a rather pleasing  
vista, aesthetically speaking, isn't it?"  
  
"It is sufficient to serve a colony's needs," Seven said as  
she stopped next to Janeway. She looked at the doctor and  
raised an eyebrow. "That is the only requirement, is it  
not?"  
  
"An aesthetically pleasing environment may not be strictly  
necessary, Seven, but humans and most other sentient  
species consider it an important qualification." The doctor  
spoke in his most professorial tone. "In fact, I used an  
amalgamation of all the uninhabited class M planets we have  
catalogued in the past three months--eleven in total--and  
combined their characteristics into an 'average' planet  
waiting to be colonized."  
  
"Perhaps you should have programmed the most difficult  
planet to colonize rather than an average planet, if your  
purpose is to challenge the skills of the crew."  
  
"This planet will do," Janeway said quickly. The doctor was  
right. It was a pleasant enough place, with its bluish  
grass and scattered wide-branched trees, and gently sloping  
hills melting into the distance. The last thing she wanted  
was a planet where they had to clear land in a swamp or  
fight heatstroke in a desert.  
  
"I made sure to include an obstacle or two so the crew will  
be well tested."  
  
Janeway didn't like that cryptic comment. "Doctor, maybe we  
should stick with a standard scenario, without any  
extra...bells and whistles, as Lieutenant Paris would say."  
  
The doctor was saved from a reply by Chakotay's arrival.  
"Captain, ready for your rotation?"  
  
Janeway looked at the hammer Chakotay held out to her, and  
cocked an eyebrow. "I'm sure I won't have any problem. I  
have handled a hammer before."  
  
"Of course," Chakotay said, in a smooth tone Janeway  
decided was just a little patronizing as she snatched the  
hammer from him.  
  
"Those will house the entire crew of Voyager?" Seven asked.  
Her attention was focused on the two unfinished  
dormitories.  
  
"Temporarily," Chakotay answered her. "I know that doesn't  
afford anyone much privacy but the first order is to ensure  
that our basic needs of food and shelter are met. Once that  
is taken care of, then we will build individual  
residences."  
  
"I don't think B'Elanna and I can wait too long for that,"  
Tom commented as he joined them, earning an annoyed look  
from the doctor, and a snort from Harry.  
  
"This is a limited simulation," Janeway said, a little  
sharply. "You'll be going back to your quarters every  
night, Mister Paris."  
  
"I know. I'm just trying to play along with the program,  
and six days would be a long time to--" Tom stopped  
abruptly at Janeway's warning look. "Never mind."  
  
"Doctor, what is my assigned duty?"  
  
The doctor looked pleased Seven had asked him. "Lieutenant  
Torres is returning with her engineering crew right now.  
She can brief you on their progress with the power grid."  
  
Seven nodded and strode toward B'Elanna and her group, who  
were gathered near the pile of salvaged materials.  
  
"You can also join the engineering team, Captain," the  
doctor suggested.  
  
Janeway glanced at Chakotay, and shook her head. "I'll  
leave that to the actual engineers, and stick with the  
construction crew." If nothing else, hammering nails would  
provide the physical release she hadn't had time to pursue  
lately in her Velocity program.  
  
"Samantha Wildman just arrived, and she is a trained medic  
in case you do miss with that hammer."  
  
Janeway gave Chakotay her best freezing look, though he  
just flashed her a grin in return. She saw Joe Carey, Sam  
and Naomi approaching the settlement, looking around with  
open curiosity.  
  
"As a hologram I don't need to sleep or eat, so I will be  
staying in the program for the duration," the doctor said.  
"Unless I am needed in Sickbay," he added hastily.  
  
Janeway could see the doctor was already captivated by his  
own program. "As long as you are aware of your priorities,  
Doctor."  
  
"Of course."  
  
B'Elanna approached, rubbing her arms and frowning. "Is the  
weather changing?"  
  
Janeway glanced up at the sky, where fast moving gray  
clouds were starting to gather.  
  
"Ah, we may get some rain," the doctor observed. "I believe  
it occurs frequently here in the summer."  
  
B'Elanna rolled her eyes. "Great. A planet where it rains  
all the time. I'm glad I'm leaving."  
  
Tom put an arm around her shoulders, and they headed toward  
the open holoarch with several others. Janeway looked up at  
the sky again. She figured if she got really lucky, she  
would be hammering together the rest of the dormitory frame  
while soaking wet. Everyone else had moved a few meters  
away so she said in a low voice to Chakotay, "If I open a  
direct comm line to you, think of some sort of emergency on  
the bridge that requires my attention."  
  
"I'm sure I can handle any emergencies, Captain. You've  
trained me well."  
  
Janeway gave him a disgusted look.  
  
"Have fun," Chakotay said cheerfully, before he turned and  
headed for the open arch.  
  
Several fat drops of rain fell on Janeway's face and arms,  
and she sighed as she lifted her hammer and walked toward  
the first dormitory. The sooner she got started, the sooner  
they'd all get through the doctor's drill and back to their  
real lives.  
  
Act Two  
  
The first rotation of the second day was underway, and the  
doctor was complaining. "We're falling behind schedule."  
  
Tom snorted. "Yesterday you said we were making good  
progress." He bit into a ration bar and grimaced, glad he  
only had to eat one meal a day in this program. He was  
already anticipating a good steak for dinner.  
  
Harry glared at the doctor. "Most of us are new at this,  
Doc."  
  
"Which is exactly the reason for this drill, Lieutenant."  
  
"You could have made the weather more cooperative," Tom  
groused. The rain had stopped for the moment, but he was  
still damp. It could be worse though. After the third  
rotation of colonists yesterday had endured a downpour,  
he'd figured out that wearing his uniform wasn't a good  
idea, even stripped down to the regulation t-shirt. Today  
he was wearing a non-regulation cotton shirt and pants, and  
quite a few others had chosen more comfortable clothing  
also. The doctor had immediately questioned the likelihood  
of salvaging their clothing, but a hastily packed duffel  
wasn't impossible in the time frame of his evacuation, so  
he'd let it stand.  
  
"Weather is a changeable phenomenon, Mister Paris. If  
you're going to be an asset to a colony, you should be able  
to function under even the most uncomfortable  
circumstances, and a little rain is far from that."  
  
"That's easy to say when you're a hologram," Pablo Baytart  
said sourly. "You don't really get wet."  
  
The doctor shrugged. "I realize that I am superior to  
organic beings in virtually every area, but I can't help  
that, Mister Baytart."  
  
Tom wasn't the only one who rolled his eyes.  
  
"At least the rain does cool things off," Lora Jenkins  
commented, seeing the bright side as usual.  
  
"And we had the mess hall foundation poured before the rain  
started."  
  
"Good thing," Tom agreed with Marla Gilmore. Duracrete set  
almost immediately, but it would have been impossible to  
pour it in the middle of a rainstorm.  
  
"We have constructed two buildings in twenty-three hours,"  
Icheb said. "Given the lack of prior experience, I believe  
the crew's performance has been commendable."  
  
"Yeah." Tom grinned as the doctor gave Icheb an annoyed  
look. Icheb had joined the construction crew today, and had  
taken immediately to it, as he did to virtually all things.  
He was one of those people who were annoyingly proficient  
at everything they did, but Tom still couldn't help liking  
him. And he was also glad to see Icheb looking more relaxed  
after the displaced guilt that had weighed him down just a  
few weeks ago. "You seem to be enjoying this."  
  
"I always appreciate broadening my knowledge with new  
experiences, Lieutenant Paris," Icheb said. "Besides  
benefiting physical health, did you know that strenuous  
physical activity releases endorphins in most humanoid  
species that relieve emotional and mental stress?"  
  
Tom grinned. "I do recall that fact. A few things the  
doctor has taught me have actually rubbed off."  
  
"Nice to know my efforts have not been completely in vain,"  
the doctor said dryly.  
  
"Are you also enjoying the program, Lieutenant Paris?"  
Icheb asked.  
  
"Ah, Mister Neelix and his party have returned," the doctor  
noted, diverting everyone's attention. "It looks like they  
are bringing something to garnish the 'blocks of cinder' as  
I believe you called the Starfleet rations, Mister  
Baytart."  
  
Neelix, Naomi and Renley Sharr were headed their way, all  
carrying full sacks. They'd gone to the woods near the  
river to scavenge for edible plants and fruits and  
apparently they'd been successful.  
  
"Bringing us gifts?" Jenkins asked eagerly.  
  
Neelix let the sack he'd been carrying drop to the ground.  
He smiled widely as he pulled it open. "We have berries we  
found on bushes by the riverbank, and this lovely yellow  
fruit that grows on some trees in the same area." He held  
up the item in question, a plump yellow fruit the size of  
an orange. "I have it on Naomi's authority that it tastes  
like a cross between a peach and a strawberry."  
  
Naomi grinned and nodded, but the doctor spoke before she  
could. "I assume you analyzed the fruit before you allowed  
Naomi to eat it."  
  
Neelix, who'd been foraging for foodstuff to supplement  
supplies on Voyager for years, looked offended. "Of course  
we did. We know better than to eat anything that isn't  
thoroughly tested."  
  
"Excellent," the doctor replied. "Be frugal," he added, as  
Neelix began passing out the yellow fruits while Naomi and  
Sharr offered everyone handfuls of the lavender berries.  
"We have limited rations and grain stores, and it will be  
many weeks before any crops are produced from our seed  
stock."  
  
"I sure wish someone would cure the doctor of his Napoleon  
complex," Harry muttered under his breath as Naomi offered  
him some berries.  
  
"How likely is that?" Tom murmured, then returned Naomi's  
grin as she handed him his share of berries.  
  
"How is the mess hall coming?" Neelix asked eagerly, though  
he could see for himself.  
  
"If we apply ourselves, it should be finished by the end of  
the day," the doctor said. "For the moment it will also  
serve as a general meeting place until we can add another  
building to serve that purpose."  
  
"Don't start decorating too soon," Tom told Neelix.  
  
"Can't we think of a name more better name than 'mess  
hall'?" Marla asked. "Something more suitable to a  
planetary environment?"  
  
"Right," Baytart agreed. "On a planet an eating  
establishment is a restaurant, and it usually has a name.  
Maybe we could call it something like 'Neelix's Place'." He  
grinned at Neelix.  
  
"A restaurant," Neelix repeated, clearly pleased with the  
concept. "I suppose that's what it would be."  
  
"My aunt in Wyoming has a restaurant called 'Monica's  
Grub'," Jenkins commented.  
  
"Neelix's Grub..." Naomi, who had settled herself next to  
Icheb, tried out that title.  
  
"On Rynax it was common to name a restaurant after its most  
popular dish," Neelix said.  
  
"Anything but 'The Leola Root,' Neelix," Marla begged.  
  
"Unfortunately leola root won't be available on the  
colony." Neelix shook his head sadly, though nobody else  
looked particularly heartbroken. "But I do remember a  
little cafe on Rynax called 'The Grilled Intestine.' The  
food there was quite tasty--"  
  
"Yuck!" Naomi practically shrieked. "That is *not* a good  
name for a restaurant, Neelix. You won't get any  
customers."  
  
"That would not be the case, since it will be the only  
place to eat in the settlement--"  
  
Naomi rolled her eyes, and Tom rescued Icheb from his  
literal nature. "Maybe you should go with something less  
body part oriented, Neelix. You could always stick with a  
classic, like 'Chez Neelix'."  
  
"Chez Neelix," Neelix repeated. He smiled. "It does have a  
certain ring to it."  
  
"Speaking of names, Doctor, is there going to be a name for  
our colony?" Sharr asked.  
  
The doctor pursed his lips thoughtfully. "That is a very  
good question, Crewman. I'll let you know as soon as I come  
up with one."  
  
Tom snorted. "If it's going to take as long as it has to  
come up with your own name, don't bother."  
  
"What on Earth!"  
  
Everyone turned at Jenkins's exclamation to see several  
people running toward the settlement site from a small rise  
just to the north. It took only a moment to recognize one  
of the engineering teams that had gone in that direction  
earlier to check out some nearby mineral deposits.  
  
"What is the great rush, Mister Mulcahey?" the doctor  
asked, as the ensign reached him and doubled over with his  
hands on his knees, trying to catch his breath.  
  
"We saw a...thing!"  
  
The doctor's eyebrows rose. "A...thing?"  
  
"An animal," Freddie Bristow clarified as he stopped next  
to Mulcahey, breathing hard himself. "It was huge, at least  
three meters tall, maybe four, and it was bipedal and very  
hairy. It looked like those pictures of an ancient animal  
on Earth called Bigfoot."  
  
Tom let out a bark of laughter, then covered it with a  
cough. "Uh, Bigfoot was a myth, Freddie."  
  
"Maybe on Earth, but you should have seen this thing. It  
was huge!" Mulcahey spread his arms for effect.  
  
"Is this true, Lieutenant?" the doctor asked as Joe Carey  
arrived at a more leisurely lope, with Vorik following a  
few steps behind at an equally unhurried pace.  
  
Joe shrugged. "I didn't see it. Neither did Vorik."  
  
"Mulcahey and I were a few meters away, finishing our  
readings on some rocks, when it suddenly appeared in front  
of us," Freddie said.  
  
"Did it try to attack you?" Jenkins asked.  
  
Mulcahey frowned. "I don't know. We ran."  
  
"Maybe it just wanted to ask for directions."  
  
Sharr and Baytart sniggered, while the doctor shot Harry a  
quelling look.  
  
"It could be a sentient species." Tom grinned. "We should  
try to make first contact, and shake its hand or  
something."  
  
"We did a complete survey of the planet, Mister Paris," the  
doctor said tartly. "There are no sentient species."  
  
"We did not catalogue any animals of this size either,"  
Vorik pointed out.  
  
"Standard surveys do sometimes miss small populations of  
flora and fauna. In any case, it was probably more  
frightened of you than you were of it."  
  
Mulcahey and Bristow gave the doctor a look a pure  
disbelief.  
  
"You have phasers with you as a precaution when you leave  
the settlement boundaries. If anyone encounters such an  
animal again it should be a simple matter to stun it if it  
makes a threatening move."  
  
Tom wondered if the doctor knew more about the animal than  
he was revealing. He'd programmed the simulation after all,  
even if he claimed he'd used general parameters and had let  
the computer fill in the specifics.  
  
"I hope I don't run into it," Jenkins said a little  
nervously.  
  
"This is a holoprogram," Harry reminded her. "It can't hurt  
you."  
  
"I think we should go look for it, like Tom said."  
  
That's not exactly what he'd said, but Tom grinned at  
Naomi. "You name the time, and I'll bring my bat'leth just  
in case." When Harry rolled his eyes he added, "I'm sure  
Harry will want to come too."  
  
"At the moment we have more pressing matters to attend to,"  
the doctor reminded them. "Break time is over. This is an  
official drill, don't forget."  
  
"I think I would rather hunt Bigfoot than pound any more  
nails," Harry muttered.  
  
"Only three more hours, Har," Tom said encouragingly. The  
look Harry sent him for that reminder wasn't one of  
gratitude.  
  
Tom rose with everyone else, and stretched. His back  
protested a little, though not as strenuously as it had  
last night. The back rub B'Elanna had given him had  
alleviated most of the ache. He had a feeling he'd need  
another one tonight, though it would have to be late, since  
B'Elanna would be in the program during its third rotation.  
  
As he followed the rest toward unfinished mess hall, he  
realized he hadn't answered Icheb's question. Raising a  
colony was a lot of physical work, but he had to admit  
there were benefits, like fresh air and sunshine--when the  
sun peaked through. He also felt a sense of satisfaction  
helping to build something, much the way he'd felt  
designing and helping build the Delta Flyer. Besides, once  
the initial construction was completed, there would be  
other things to focus on, like the existing shuttle. He had  
already thought of several ways to upgrade it, at least  
until he could get together the materials to build another  
version of the Flyer. It wouldn't be able to sustain warp  
drive and transporters, since those required energy sources  
that weren't available here, though with B'Elanna's mind,  
and Seven's, no doubt that hurdle could eventually be  
crossed--  
  
Tom stopped and shook his head, reminding himself that this  
was a simulation. It was surprisingly easy to forget and to  
get immersed in the surroundings, even for just a few  
hours. Colony life had never before held any intrinsic  
appeal to him, but the truth was, when he thought of  
everything the crew had gone through over the past several  
weeks, and the losses they'd endured, for the first time he  
could see some distinct advantages in the concept of  
colonization.  
  
^*^*^*^  
  
Janeway finished her last check on the wiring, satisfied  
with her work. When dusk fell in another thirty minutes or  
so, the women's dormitory would have light. It would be  
fundamental wired electricity, but it would suffice. It  
would also be a tight squeeze, with seventy-one women and  
one teenage girl sharing the two-story space, sleeping four  
or six to a room, on woven mats on the floor for the time  
being. At least they would be able to see where they were  
going when they went outside to attend to basic needs in  
the temporary lavatories, since the plumbing wouldn't be  
completely functional until tomorrow.  
  
That would all be if any of this were real of course, which  
thankfully it wasn't. The lighting wouldn't even be much of  
a factor, since the program was running only seventeen  
hours a day--coincidentally from dawn to dusk at the  
simulated colony site, where it was early summer. That had  
been one of her conditions, since she needed her crew well  
rested to carry out their duties on Voyager, emergency  
procedures drill or not--  
  
"How's it going?"  
  
Janeway looked up at her first officer, and rose to her  
feet. "The women's dormitory has electricity."  
  
"Did anyone ever explain why the women get electricity  
first, and the men won't have it until tomorrow?"  
  
Janeway couldn't help grinning at Chakotay's wry look. "I  
don't know. Perhaps it has something to do with the fact  
that the person in charge of the energy allotment schedule  
is our chief engineer."  
  
"You women always stick together, don't you?" Chakotay  
joked.  
  
Janeway smirked, but didn't bother to answer. "I thought  
you were working on the mess hall roof."  
  
"I'm on my way back there. I was just taking a break to  
stretch." He pressed his hands to his lower back. "The  
ship's standard fitness programs don't really prepare you  
for this kind of physical work. I guess I'm not in as good  
of shape as I thought I was."  
  
From Janeway's viewpoint there wasn't a noticeable problem,  
though she'd had a few unexpected aches herself. She was  
grateful for the bathtub in her quarters, since she'd  
indulged in a long hot soak last night. "Believe me, it's  
not any more fun installing this wiring."  
  
"What makes you think I'm not having fun?"  
  
"This is an emergency procedures drill," Janeway reminded  
him. "They aren't supposed to be fun."  
  
"Most of the time they're not, but I have to give the  
doctor credit for putting a new twist on it."  
  
"Still, building a colony from scratch isn't something most  
people aspire to, or find an entertaining pastime."  
  
Chakotay's eyebrows rose at her dismissive tone. "I  
wouldn't say that. So far I've heard a handful of  
complaints, mostly weather-related, but most of the crew  
seem to be finding this the diversion we hoped it would be.  
According to the doctor stress levels are down, and it also  
gives everyone something else to talk about in the mess  
hall--the real mess hall--other than our recent  
confrontations with the Borg."  
  
Janeway had noticed that most of her crew seemed  
enthusiastic about the drill, despite some initially voiced  
doubts. That bothered her in some way she couldn't quite  
fathom.  
  
"Captain." Tuvok's deep voice rang out as he approached.  
"Commander," he also acknowledged Chakotay. "I believe we  
should install a defense perimeter around the settlement at  
the first opportunity."  
  
"Heard about the 'Bigfoot' incident?"  
  
Tuvok's eyebrow rose at Chakotay's jaunty question. "Yes,  
though the accuracy of the eyewitness description is  
questionable."  
  
"Have there been any new encounters?" Janeway asked.  
  
"Not to my knowledge. However, several large felines have  
also been spotted in the distance. Though everyone is  
carrying phasers outside of the settlement boundaries, it  
is not feasible to always be armed within the boundaries,  
nor is a phaser a reliable defense in darkness or in the  
event of an attack from behind. It would be prudent to  
protect ourselves, and our supplies, to every extent  
possible."  
  
"Check with B'Elanna," Chakotay suggested. "She's been  
finalizing the installation of the power grid. If there is  
enough power to divert to a limited ground-based force  
field, that would probably be the best option."  
  
"I will suggest that the field be given the highest  
priority. Excuse me."  
  
Janeway watched Tuvok leave in search of B'Elanna, and  
Chakotay said, "I wonder what priority B'Elanna will place  
on a force field?"  
  
Janeway shrugged. "Whatever B'Elanna and Tuvok decide, it  
won't matter in four days."  
  
Chakotay looked at Janeway silently for several moments  
before he spoke. "The point of a drill is to act as if it's  
real, but you're right; it is only a holoprogram. So why  
don't you relax and enjoy it?"  
  
Janeway frowned. "I told you, this really isn't my idea of  
fun. Though you seem to be enjoying it enough for both of  
us."  
  
Chakotay's eyebrows rose at her sardonic tone. "Maybe I am.  
I seem to recall you enjoyed a similar situation once, on  
New Earth."  
  
Janeway had some cherished memories of New Earth, but the  
two situations had nothing in common, and not just because  
this was a holoprogram. "That was different."  
  
"Right. Voyager was back on its way to the Alpha quadrant,  
as far as we knew. You could let go because you believed  
you'd kept your promise to get your crew home, with the  
bonus of having martyred yourself for your cause."  
  
Janeway's mouth dropped slightly open. "What?"  
  
Chakotay gave her a crooked smile that displayed his  
dimples, and dropped a hand on her shoulder. "Self-  
sacrifice is a noble thing, sometimes."  
  
Sometimes? What the hell was that supposed to mean? Janeway  
shook his hand away. "I made a promise to get them home,  
Chakotay. And I plan to keep it."  
  
Chakotay's expression sobered, and he nodded. "I know. But  
home is a word that can have a lot of different meanings,  
Kathryn. It's not always a matter of place."  
  
Janeway stared after Chakotay as he walked away. Her  
promise to her crew wasn't one that was open to  
interpretation. Home was the Alpha quadrant, nothing more  
or less, where families and friends were anxiously awaiting  
their return. If achieving that goal meant she had to make  
sacrifices...well, she was a Starfleet captain, and  
personal sacrifices came with the territory. As for New  
Earth, she hadn't exactly felt like a martyr there...  
  
She glared at Chakotay's departing figure as he strode  
toward the mess hall. Then she smiled at the thought that  
hit her as she watched him. If nothing else this program  
was giving her crew a physical workout, which only improved  
the view of a certain backside in a tight pair of jeans.  
  
Janeway watched that backside until Chakotay turned the  
corner of the men's dormitory, and her smiled widened at  
the frivolous direction of her thoughts. "So take that,  
Number One."  
  
^*^*^*^  
  
If B'Elanna turned around from her work at the now gutted  
shuttlecraft Sagan's exterior starboard engine nacelle, she  
knew she would see the Sacajawea twenty meters away from  
her, on the flattened patch of grass that would eventually  
be a landing field for the fleet of shuttles Tom had  
already started planning. But she didn't have to look to  
know the other shuttle was there, and that her husband was  
working inside. Music--loud and cacophonous--spilled out of  
the open door. It was the rock music Tom often favored, and  
even at this distance she could make out some of the words-  
-"I feel good...I knew that I would..."  
  
A small smile touched B'Elanna's lips. She knew that was  
one of his favorites, and as long as she was far enough  
away, the screeching vocals and blaring music didn't bother  
her. They hadn't talked in detail about it, but she knew  
Tom was enjoying himself in this program--not that there  
was a holoprogram in existence he didn't find enjoyable. On  
the other hand she'd been far less enthusiastic, since  
there were still a substantial number of minor repairs to  
be completed in Engineering, and she was frustrated at the  
current status of her personal project. But once she'd  
gotten involved in this program, she'd found it  
surprisingly appealing doing something so removed from her  
regular work. It was a challenge installing the power grid,  
and figuring out how to convert the raw materials around  
them into useful energy, all without the high tech  
resources she was used to having at hand. Well, she wasn't  
thrilled about Tuvok's insistence that she allocate time  
and resources to setting up a security perimeter, but she  
supposed that could be considered part of the challenge  
too.  
  
Tom had been right. The crew had needed the distraction,  
and it showed in her engineering staff's renewed  
concentration on their work despite their extra hours on  
duty because of the drill. Now she realized she had needed  
the distraction too, after weeks of red alerts, invasions,  
emergency repairs, then more red alerts, more invasions,  
more emergency repairs, in what had seemed like a never-  
ending loop. She would never admit it, but she also felt a  
sense of total relaxation here that she hadn't felt in  
awhile, and she welcomed it.  
  
The doctor wanted them to take this program seriously, and  
certainly if it were real there would be dangers to  
consider, but they were straightforward and easily handled  
dangers. On Voyager the lives of the entire crew often  
hinged on her split second decisions and fixes, not to  
mention the lives of those serving directly under her in  
Engineering. And when her decisions resulted in losses, in  
the sacrifice of some of those lives...  
  
B'Elanna loosened the nacelle power converter panel with a  
vicious tug. She knew she wasn't alone. Janeway felt the weight  
of her decisions even more keenly, since hers was so often  
the final word. And they all felt the weight of their  
recent losses. She'd never give up her beloved Engineering  
or Voyager willingly, but she realized that she might  
actually miss this program a little when it ended in three  
more days--  
  
"Hey, hon, can you toss me that spanner next to you?"  
  
B'Elanna looked at her husband, who had poked his head out  
of the Sacajawea's doorway, and she cocked a meaningful  
eyebrow at him. The tools she'd been using, some of which  
he'd been sharing, were scattered on the grass near her.  
She shouted back at him, "I'm at a critical juncture."  
  
Tom hopped to the ground, wiping his hands on his jeans as  
he strode toward her. A few moments later he picked up the  
spanner. "Never mind. Got it."  
  
B'Elanna rolled her eyes at his insouciant grin. "So I see.  
And don't call me that in public."  
  
He gave her a bewildered look before realization dawned on  
his face. He sometimes slipped and addressed her by the  
kind of endearment she didn't like him to use outside their  
private quarters. He glanced around, where there was  
obviously no one close enough to have heard. Then he said,  
"Sorry, sweetheart."  
  
B'Elanna's mock glare didn't even budge the shameless smile  
off his face. He crouched next to her. "How's your work  
coming?"  
  
"The rest of these power packs should improve the power  
grid's performance," B'Elanna said. "Though once I add the  
parameters of Tuvok's security force field, it will be  
strained to the limit. Harry should be here any minute to  
help me--or now."  
  
"Hey, Harry," Tom called, as Harry approached with several  
tools in hand, accompanied by Jenny Delaney and Tran  
Nguyen. "When you're done helping B'Elanna, I could use a  
hand in the Sacajawea."  
  
Harry shrugged. "Sure."  
  
"You're lucky you're not assigned with us," Jenny said.  
  
"What are you two doing this lovely morning?" Tom asked  
them.  
  
Nguyen grimaced. "We get to help construct the storage  
building. Commander Chakotay decided it should take  
precedence over the infirmary, since the doctor can treat  
his patients on location as he's been doing, or set aside a  
corner of the mess hall for any serious injuries."  
  
Tom snorted. "I bet the doctor was thrilled to find out he  
has to make house calls."  
  
Nguyen grinned. "He argued with Commander Chakotay about  
it, but I guess the commander won."  
  
"I'd just like to know how soon we get to build individual  
housing," Jenny said. "There is no privacy at all in those  
dorms."  
  
"But there is protection from the elements," B'Elanna  
replied, though she didn't think she would last very long  
in a dormitory environment either. She'd become to used to  
her private quarters, and later to Tom's presence.  
  
"Easy for you to say. You two will probably be the first to  
get your own house here because you're married."  
  
Tom gave Nguyen a complacent smile. "True. It does make  
sense that the first to get some privacy will be those who  
are married or in a committed relationship. And we have a  
baby on the way."  
  
"That's still not fair," Jenny wailed. "It's discrimination  
against the unattached."  
  
B'Elanna rolled her eyes at the stellar cartographer's  
dramatics, and Tom said unsympathetically, "Sorry, Jen."  
  
Jenny refocused her gaze on Harry. "Hey, Harry, want to get  
married?"  
  
Harry's eyes went wide, and he stared at Jenny, appalled.  
  
"We'd get our own place a lot faster."  
  
Harry finally found his voice. "That's hardly a reason to  
get married!"  
  
Nguyen snickered. "I can just see the captain performing  
hasty ceremonies for everyone who wants to be on the fast  
track to their own lodgings."  
  
"So, would it be okay if my sister moved in with us?"  
  
Tom guffawed, but Harry glared at Jenny. "This is a  
holoprogram, Jenny! You live in your own quarters on  
Voyager."  
  
Jenny shrugged. "I was just speaking hypothetically. But if  
you're refusing my proposal, fine. Come on, Tran."  
  
"Give Harry a little time to think about it," Tom called as  
they walked off. "He might change his mind."  
  
Jenny looked back and grinned, but Harry scowled at Tom.  
"Don't encourage her."  
  
"She was just joking, Harry."  
  
B'Elanna smiled. "It was kind of funny, Starfleet." She  
sometimes found Jenny's absurd brand of humor a little  
annoying, but Harry's expression had been priceless, and  
Jenny hadn't been serious, probably.  
  
"I have to get back to work," Tom said. "I'm almost  
finished optimizing the Sacajawea's systems for atmospheric  
flight."  
  
B'Elanna shook her head at him. "Here I had always wondered  
how a free-spirited flyboy like you would possibly handle  
being planetbound."  
  
Tom grinned back. "Atmospheric flying does have its  
thrills. Imagine all the surveys that will need to be made.  
We'll need a whole shuttle fleet. I meant to ask you, do  
you think there are enough raw materials here to build a  
new Flyer?"  
  
B'Elanna nodded. "At least a modified one, though it will  
take a few months to get the materials together. There's no  
dilithium here, so the propulsion will be limited to--"  
  
"I don't believe this!"  
  
Tom and B'Elanna both stared at Harry, who looked agitated.  
"Don't believe what?" Tom asked.  
  
"You're planning a new Flyer, the doctor's creating his  
dream concert hall, Neelix is about to instigate a lottery  
to name his 'restaurant.' This is a six day emergency  
procedures drill! What is it with all of you?"  
  
"We're...having fun?" Tom suggested blandly.  
  
B'Elanna gave her husband a sharp look, though she wasn't  
sure why Harry was so upset either.  
  
"You're acting like this is real!"  
  
Tom shook his head. "I think we know the difference, Harry.  
Though if it was real, there are some things I could get  
used to here."  
  
"What about getting home?" Harry demanded. "After how far  
we've come, and everything we've been through to get to  
this point, you'd be willing to give up and colonize a  
planet?"  
  
"Who said anything about giving up? Nobody has yet, but  
considering everything we have been through, our luck could  
run out one day. I'm just saying if we were forced to  
colonize, I could probably learn to accept it."  
  
"You don't care how disappointed all our families would be,  
including yours, if we didn't get home?"  
  
Tom sighed heavily. "I didn't say that. Though if it ever  
happens, we could probably rig a satellite to access the  
datastream so we could keep in contact with our families.  
Heck, Starfleet might invent a new warp technology, or find  
a wormhole and send a ship for us. Either way, we wouldn't  
be completely cut off--"  
  
"But it wouldn't be the same!"  
  
B'Elanna decided it was time to intervene. "Hey, this is  
all a moot point. Right now Voyager on a direct course for  
the Alpha quadrant at warp eight."  
  
"Right," Tom agreed. "This is only a holoprogram, Harry, as  
you've reminded us about a dozen times now."  
  
"Right," Harry said. "We're still committed to getting  
home, most of us anyway."  
  
Tom stared at Harry silently for a moment, then shrugged.  
"I've said it before, Harry. Getting back to the Federation  
is not that big a priority for me. I'm going back to work  
on the Sacajawea."  
  
B'Elanna put a hand on Tom's arm before he could turn away.  
"Tom--"  
  
"Uh, sorry, am I interrupting something?"  
  
"Nope," Tom said easily, though B'Elanna could feel the  
tension in him. "What's up, Gerry?"  
  
"I wrenched my shoulder so the doctor took me off the  
construction crew for today." Ensign Culhane rubbed the  
affected shoulder. "He told me to check and see if you  
needed help on the Sacajawea."  
  
"I could use some assistance." Tom slipped his arm from  
B'Elanna's grip and kissed her on the cheek. "See you in a  
while. Harry, if you have time later I could still use your  
help on the Sacajawea's engine manifold."  
  
Harry nodded stiffly, and B'Elanna watched Tom and Culhane  
walk to the Sacajawea before she turned to Harry. "What was  
that all about?"  
  
Harry frowned for a moment before he spoke. "This is a  
holoprogram, and everyone is acting like it's real. We're  
constructing all these buildings, Tom's upgrading a  
shuttle, you're installing a power grid--it just seems like  
a waste of time and energy for something we're going to  
turn off in three days."  
  
B'Elanna shrugged. "That's the point of simulations, Harry.  
Design engineers build simulated engines all the time and  
test them before they build the real thing. The experience  
they gain is still valid."  
  
"But we're practicing something that we don't plan on  
really doing," Harry said. "And everyone seems a little too  
happy in this program, especially Tom."  
  
B'Elanna could tell that last part was what was really  
bothering Harry. "We've had it pretty grim the past month  
or so. I can't even remember the last time we had shore  
leave." Actually she could remember, since she'd picked up  
some promising parts for her project, and there had been  
that quaint little restaurant where she and Tom had eaten  
dinner. Even if it had been less than two months ago, it  
seemed longer, as if their lives had totally changed in the  
interim--again. "This is just a break for everyone. And  
look at it this way, Harry. At least there aren't any Borg  
here, or duplicitous ex-drones, and no real damage or  
casualties to deal with."  
  
Harry nodded. "I know. But Tom, for one, apparently  
wouldn't care if this were real. He's always so blasé about  
everything."  
  
B'Elanna frowned. "He's not blasé when he's flying Voyager  
out of danger," she said sharply. "Or helping the Doctor  
treat our shipmates when they're injured. He's not blasé  
about his friendship with you, Harry."  
  
"I didn't mean--"  
  
"Tom doesn't have the same priorities you do, and he's also  
very adaptable by nature. Whatever situation he's in, he'll  
always find some opportunity in it, some way to make it  
work for him." B'Elanna smiled faintly. "That's one of the  
things I've always admired most about him."  
  
Harry sighed. "I guess I do too. I know as long as Tom has  
something to fly, and a shuttle or a car to tinker on--and  
you and the baby--he's happy."  
  
"It's a good thing you added that last part," B'Elanna  
growled good-naturedly. "The truth is, I feel a lot like  
Tom does. As long as I have him, and her..." she pressed a  
hand to her belly briefly, "and you and the rest of my  
friends on Voyager, that's what really matters most to me.  
A lot of the Maquis feel the same way. We know where we  
stand here."  
  
"B'Elanna, you don't have anything to worry about," Harry  
said vehemently. "The Maquis will be pardoned. The captain  
all but said so."  
  
The captain was optimistic, but B'Elanna knew there were no  
guarantees. "Probably. But a lot of the Maquis on Voyager  
lost friends and family because of the Cardassian massacres  
and the Dominion War. Not everyone has people waiting for  
them back home, Harry."  
  
Harry was silent for several moments. "I'm being a jerk,  
aren't I?"  
  
B'Elanna tried to look stern; instead she ended up smiling.  
She wondered if it was Harry's shamefaced expression or  
this calm stage of her pregnancy that had her suddenly  
acting like a Betazoid counselor. "Maybe just a little. Not  
everyone wants the same thing, Harry, and there's nothing  
wrong with that. You and Tom are very different, and that's  
probably why you're best friends. Aside from that, this  
*is* just a holoprogram. Nothing's changed. I'm still going  
to do everything I possibly can to get us all home."  
  
Harry gave her a shrewd look, the same one she'd been  
getting from various senior officers for weeks now about  
her secret project that wasn't so secret anymore. "I know."  
  
"Good." B'Elanna cuffed him lightly on the shoulder. "Let's  
get back to work."  
  
  
^*^*^*^  
  
  
"I think I'm still fondest of the first rotation," the  
doctor said conversationally. "This third rotation does  
have a nice sunset, but I love the fresh scent of morning,  
with the dew still on the grass, and sound of birds  
singing..."  
  
"The birds we have observed all emit a high-pitched  
screech," Seven reminded him.  
  
The doctor shrugged. "The sound of birds screeching..."  
  
"There, Seven."  
  
Icheb pointed to a hill approximately a kilometer away, and  
Seven nodded. "That is the location Lieutenant Carey  
indicated in his initial survey." She glanced at his  
tricorder. "Sornonium, and gold. The gold is of little  
value since it can be manufactured--"  
  
"Not here," the doctor said. "At least not yet."  
  
Seven glanced at the doctor and nodded at his correct  
observation. He had decided to come along on their  
expedition because he wanted to experience every aspect of  
their colonization effort. She had also noticed he was  
quite proprietary about his program, and though his  
presence on this assignment was not essential, she'd  
accepted it, along with his tendency to talk endlessly.  
  
"The distance is one point one three kilometers," Icheb  
said. "We've already traveled quite far from the  
settlement."  
  
"We may not make it back before dusk," Naomi said.  
  
Before the end of the third rotation, when the program  
would close down, Seven amended in her own mind. She did  
not find it as easy to "pretend" as those around her, since  
it was something with which she had very limited  
experience. Lieutenant Paris's Captain Proton program had  
not convinced her of the supposed charms of suspending  
disbelief, though many of the crew clearly were enjoying  
the "make believe" element in this program. She avoided  
making any comparisons to Unimatrix Zero, since that  
situation was not directly analogous. "Very well. We will  
return to the settlement. If we proceed in a southwest  
course, we will cover some ground not fully surveyed."  
  
"Pretty soon Tom can fly us around in the Sacajawea," Naomi  
said. "Then we won't have to walk everywhere."  
  
"The Sacajawea is currently functional," Seven pointed out.  
"However, it is advisable to fully familiarize ourselves  
with the local terrain and resources before we move further  
afield."  
  
"Exactly," the doctor said, approval in his voice.  
  
"Icheb, inform Lieutenant Nicoletti's team of our heading."  
  
Seven led the way while Icheb used his commbadge to contact  
Lieutenant Nicoletti. Naomi moved in step with Seven as the  
doctor and Icheb fell in slightly behind.  
  
"After the drill is over maybe we can still keep building  
the colony," Naomi said, sounding a little wistful.  
  
"There would be no practical reason to do so," Seven said.  
  
"We could just do it for fun, like we do other  
holoprograms."  
  
Seven gave Naomi a curious look, wondering what prompted  
her inclination. She had noted that many of the crew seemed  
intrigued by the concept of colonization, though she'd  
assumed it was due to the novelty factor of the program  
rather than an interest in actual colonization. "Do you  
wish this was more than a simulation?"  
  
Naomi looked thoughtful, then she shrugged. "I don't know.  
I love Voyager, but..."  
  
"It has been a difficult past few weeks," Seven finished  
for her.  
  
Naomi nodded. "My mom was working in Sickbay after the Borg  
invasion, and she was the one who sat with Ken Dalby when  
he died. They became pretty good friends, since they worked  
together in the biolab sometimes. She was really upset."  
  
"You believe if the crew had chosen to colonize a planet,  
Crewman Dalby would be alive today?"  
  
"Probably. I know my mom would be safer, and I wouldn't  
have to worry about her every time there's a red alert and  
I don't know where she is or if she's okay. Or if Icheb's  
okay, or you, or Neelix, or B'Elanna, or Tom..."  
  
"I understand. However, a colony can also have dangers, and  
it is vulnerable to attack from space. The Borg have  
assimilated hundreds of colonies, some in the sector we are  
traveling through right now."  
  
Naomi nodded glumly. "I know you're right, Seven."  
  
Seven thought Naomi still looked uncertain. "Should Voyager  
be successful reaching the Alpha quadrant, you and your  
mother will see your father again, and the other members  
your family. Do you not desire that outcome?"  
  
"Of course," Naomi said immediately. "It will be different  
than just talking to my father through letters, but I  
already love him, and I know how much he misses me and my  
mom. I think Icheb wants to get there too, since he wants a  
career with Starfleet. We both want to stay in Starfleet,  
so we can be...well, anyway."  
  
Seven knew the reason for Naomi's evasiveness and her  
flushed skin. She had recognized the strong attraction  
between Icheb and Naomi, despite their youthfulness. It  
wasn't an area where she could give much advice. She had  
missed that stage of her individual development, and she  
still didn't completely understand her feelings for Axum,  
which had resurfaced in a strong manner when she'd  
contacted him again recently. She did know that she was  
experiencing a persistent desire to explore those feelings  
in more detail--  
  
"Seven, to your left!"  
  
The doctor's shout alerted Seven, and she shoved Naomi  
behind her as a large feline animal appeared from behind  
the small outcropping of rocks two meters in front of them.  
It was the size of a Bengal tiger though its dun fur was  
matted and scruffy. Its green eyes met Seven's and held.  
  
"Move back and let me handle this, Seven. I'm a hologram,  
so I can't be injured."  
  
Seven refrained from noting that this was a holoprogram, so  
none of them could be seriously injured. She held out a  
hand. "I can handle the situation, Doctor," she said, as  
she placed her other hand on her phaser.  
  
The cat crouched as if to pounce, and Naomi drew an audible  
breath behind Seven. Seven considered her options in a  
split second, and chose the one she deemed appropriate. She  
raised her arms and let out a loud, long bloodcurdling  
scream.  
  
The cat paused in mid-motion and took several steps  
backwards before it turned and loped away. Seven looked at  
her companions, who were all staring at her in stupefied  
amazement. It was several seconds before anyone spoke.  
  
"Wow, Seven. That was the loudest scream I've ever heard!"  
  
Naomi's voice was full of admiration, and Seven raised an  
eyebrow. "It served its purpose."  
  
"Why didn't you just stun it?"  
  
The doctor sounded irate, and Seven considered his  
question. "I concluded that a loud scream had a high  
probability of success, while avoiding any possibility of  
unforeseen injury to the animal." She saw the doctor's  
expression soften, and knew he was recalling the last time  
she'd used a phaser set to stun, on the ex-drones on the  
Trefla. Though she appreciated the doctor's occasional  
moments of perception and empathy, her reaction here had  
been entirely based on reason. "Had the animal kept coming,  
of course I would have used my phaser."  
  
"Of course," Icheb echoed as Seven's commbadge beeped.  
  
"Nicoletti to Seven."  
  
"Go ahead, Lieutenant."  
  
"We thought we heard a scream a minute ago. Is everything  
all right?"  
  
"Affirmative, Lieutenant."  
  
"Good." Nicoletti sounded relieved. "It seemed to come from  
your direction, though you're pretty far away from us. It  
sounded human, but I guess it must have been an animal."  
  
"It was my voice you heard," Seven replied. "However there  
is no cause for alarm. The situation is under control."  
  
"Okaaay..."  
  
Seven heard the mixture of doubt and curiosity in  
Nicoletti's voice. She offered no further information. "We  
will rendezvous with you back at the settlement. Seven  
out." She turned to the doctor. "I believe we should  
proceed now, and with greater urgency."  
  
Naomi's eyes widened. "In case we meet Bigfoot?" she asked,  
though her grin belied any fear of such an encounter.  
  
Seven shook her head. "No. Because those clouds coming from  
the west are moving swiftly."  
  
A few minutes earlier there had been only an indistinct  
haze on the horizon, but now billowing dark clouds were  
visible, and clearly headed in their direction. They all  
heeded Seven's suggestion and began to move quickly, as  
Icheb asked with his typical ingenuous curiosity, "Is there  
a particular reason you have such a fondness for rain,  
Doctor?"  
  
Naomi giggled under her breath, and shot Seven a gleeful  
look as the doctor began to lecture Icheb on the variables  
of climate. Seven acknowledged Naomi's grin with a slight  
upturn of her lips. She had learned that social skill from  
the doctor, and though she'd found it very awkward at  
first, and had quite often neglected to employ it while  
focusing on more practical matters, she'd become more  
comfortable with such social gestures recently. They were  
particularly easy to perform with Naomi.  
  
Seven glanced at the clouds again and increased her pace,  
knowing the others would follow her lead. Though she was  
not good at pretending, she did find aspects of this drill  
intriguing, even challenging in their unpredictability. For  
instance, she considered at this moment whether, even at  
the fast pace she had set, they would make it to the  
settlement before the rain began to fall.  
  
Act Three  
  
As he entered Holodeck one, Chakotay nearly ran into Harry  
Kim and Jesse Molina. He did a double take as he looked at  
their wet, muddy clothes and generally disheveled  
appearance. Harry had a cut across his cheek. "What  
happened to you two?  
  
"You haven't heard?" Harry asked. "There was a hurricane."  
  
"A hurricane?" He glanced up at the leaden sky, and wiped  
several raindrops from his face. He'd heard from Tabor last  
night that rain and wind were settling in as the program  
closed, but a hurricane? "The colony site is at least six  
hundred kilometers from the nearest sea."  
  
"That's what I told the doctor!" Harry shook his head. "It  
didn't make sense, but we just spent six hours soaking wet  
trying to save what supplies we could after the roof  
collapsed on the storage building."  
  
Damn. They'd just finished that building.  
  
"You missed all the fun, Commander," Molina said, sounding  
like he'd actually enjoyed it. "I think the hurricane's  
over now."  
  
"Yeah. But it's still raining." Harry gave Chakotay a  
commiserating look. "Have fun with the clean up."  
  
Chakotay watched them go. It was still raining lightly,  
though the wind had ceased. From the holoarch's entry spot  
at the settlement's eastern boundary he couldn't see the  
storage building, since it was hidden by one of the  
dormitories--both of which looked completely intact--but he  
could see the debris scattered around, including some of  
their building materials, supplies and torn seed bags among  
the broken tree branches and uprooted chunks of mud.  
Several crewmembers were wandering among the debris,  
retrieving what they could. A few steps brought the storage  
building and mess hall into view. The mess hall appeared  
undamaged, and the duraplas reinforced walls of the storage  
building were standing, but the roof had indeed collapsed.  
He supposed it was a good sign that the other buildings had  
withstood the storm.  
  
He didn't see Janeway until she was right in front of him.  
"Captain..."  
  
Chakotay's voice trailed off. Kathryn Janeway was a mess.  
Her hair was tangled and it hung in wet clumps. Though most  
of the crew had abandoned their uniforms for casual  
clothing that was less restrictive--and more fitting to the  
scenario of building a permanent colony--the captain had  
elected to continue wearing her uniform. Chakotay figured  
it was a statement, but at the moment that uniform was  
rumpled and dirty, and there was a smudges of mud on her  
forehead and cheek. He cleared his throat. "I heard there  
was a hurricane."  
  
"Now you can see that it's true," Janeway said dryly.  
  
Chakotay plucked a leaf out of her hair and turned it over  
in his fingers.  
  
"Are you finding this amusing, Commander?"  
  
Chakotay shook his head. "No, ma'am."  
  
Janeway's eyes narrowed at that address. He couldn't  
remember the last time he'd called her ma'am. He was still  
managing not to smile, barely. She finally gave a small  
snort of disgust. "I have to go take a shower before I  
start my shift on the bridge."  
  
"Good idea."  
  
Chakotay managed to keep his expression as neutral as his  
voice. Beneath the dire warning in Janeway's gaze he  
thought he detected a glint of humor before she turned and  
stalked off.  
  
"Chakotay!"  
  
B'Elanna was striding toward him, with the doctor right  
behind her.  
  
"How long have you been here?" Chakotay asked. Since she  
was scheduled for the second rotation it couldn't have been  
too long.  
  
"A few minutes. Long enough to find out that the power grid  
is seriously damaged." B'Elanna glared at the doctor and  
wiped moisture out of her eyes. "I hate rain."  
  
"Be glad you weren't here at the beginning of the last  
rotation, Lieutenant," the doctor said. "Everyone walked  
right into the middle of the hurricane. Then you would have  
had something to complain about."  
  
"Be glad my temper is tempered at the moment," B'Elanna  
shot back.  
  
The doctor smirked. "I suppose it is fortunate for me that  
you are a kinder, gentler Lieutenant Torres these days."  
  
Chakotay spoke before B'Elanna could return another in what  
had probably already been a long line of verbal shots.  
"Doctor, what's going on? A hurricane is not a very likely  
development in this inland environment."  
  
The doctor shrugged at Chakotay's observation. "When I  
programmed the colonization scenario I instructed the  
computer to create a small natural disaster to test the  
crew's skills. I did not include any topographical  
parameters, so this is what we got."  
  
"That's the kind of detail Tom wouldn't have forgotten,"  
B'Elanna said, probably just to annoy the doctor.  
  
It worked. The doctor scowled at her. "The only relevant  
factor for this program was to give the crew an opportunity  
to overcome a typical obstacle that might face a fledgling  
colony. Colonizing is not always a picnic, you know."  
  
B'Elanna rolled her eyes. "So I see. I've got to get to  
work on the power grid, Chakotay."  
  
"How bad is it?"  
  
"With Gilmore and Vorik's help, I can probably have it  
fixed by the end of my rotation."  
  
"If it's not, Joe Carey's on the third rotation. I'm sure  
his team can finish up."  
  
That was Chakotay's way of telling B'Elanna not to push  
herself too hard. Even though she was more amenable than  
usual--a characteristic of midterm Klingon pregnancies  
apparently--nothing ever affected her determination when it  
came to her job. She nodded reluctantly at his "suggestion"  
and strode off.  
  
Chakotay heard a chorus of groans behind him, and turned to  
see several new arrivals surveying the damage. Michael  
Ayala was shaking his head. "Molina said there was a  
hurricane. Guess he wasn't kidding."  
  
"I'm afraid not," Chakotay replied. "It's not quite as bad  
as it looks. Only one building was damaged, but it was the  
one containing our food supplies, unfortunately."  
  
Neelix waved a PADD. "Chell gave me an update before he  
left. We lost approximately two-thirds of our food stores.  
That leaves us about a week's supply right now. There  
shouldn't be any problem supplementing with the local  
fruits and tubers," he assured everyone. "I found some  
edible roots yesterday that will also make a nutritious  
soup. We won't starve."  
  
"We might wish we had," Ensign Ashmore muttered.  
  
"What about hunting?" Several pairs of eyes fixated on Sam  
Wildman. "We'll need more protein in our diet soon."  
  
"There must be other ways to get protein besides killing  
animals!" Megan Delaney protested.  
  
"Grubs are an excellent source of protein," Neelix  
announced cheerfully, to no resulting show of enthusiasm.  
  
"There are also plant sources," the doctor said. "However,  
animal protein is the most beneficial for humanoids, except  
Vulcans."  
  
"Without a replicator we can't reproduce meat, so hunting  
will probably become necessary." Chakotay could see from  
several faces that the prospect wasn't to everyone's  
liking. He imagined few on Voyager had ever eaten  
nonreplicated animal flesh. Some, like him, were also  
vegetarians, and would forgo eating actual animal flesh in  
favor of those other sources of protein.  
  
"Domestication of local animals would also be an eventual  
alternative," the doctor said.  
  
"True," Chakotay replied. "However, we won't be pursuing  
either in the next two days." There were several relieved  
sighs. "The rations we have left and whatever we can forage  
will be enough to sustain us. You'd better put together a  
foraging party, Neelix."  
  
"Those who aren't assisting Mister Neelix can head over to  
the storage building," the doctor announced. "Mister  
Tessoni has a team already working on the roof repairs."  
  
Angelo Tessoni had turned out to be an excellent carpenter,  
and as often happened in such situations, others naturally  
looked to him for guidance since he possessed the greatest  
skill. Over the past several days many of the crew had  
found their comfortable niches, though not a few were  
intent on trying their hands at as many different tasks as  
possible.  
  
The group split up, some going with Neelix, while the rest  
followed the doctor toward the storage building. Chakotay  
went with the second group, glad to note that everyone  
seemed to have adjusted to this setback with relative ease.  
No one really needed much direction anymore to find  
something useful to do, especially since there were no end  
of tasks to be done--not so different from the situation  
they often found themselves in on Voyager. Of course, this  
was a simulation, and an incomplete one at that,  
considering they all returned to the comfort of their own  
quarters at the end of the day. He knew better than anyone  
that no number of simulations could completely prepare one  
for reality, but he also knew that this crew had always  
responded with aplomb to every situation that had been  
thrown at them. Whatever they might face in the future,  
that wasn't likely to change.  
  
Their captain might be another matter. Kathryn's promise to  
get the crew home was the beacon that kept her going.  
Should that beacon be lost, he wasn't sure how she'd handle  
it. If the glint of humor he'd seen in her eyes before  
she'd left hadn't been his imagination, maybe she was  
starting to take this program for what is was though,  
rather than as a refutation of her objective.  
  
"Hey, Commander, are you just supervising today?"  
  
"Nope," Chakotay answered Ayala's sardonic question. He  
took the hammer Ayala offered, and then returned the  
lieutenant's grin as they joined the rest of the  
construction crew, who were already hard at work.  
  
^*^*^*^  
  
Tom hefted his full sack over his shoulder and grunted as  
the weight hit his back. It had to weigh twenty-five kilos.  
  
"I believe this will be satisfactory for the moment," Tuvok  
said as he slung an equally heavy bag over his shoulder  
with no apparent effort at all.  
  
"It will have to be, since I can't carry any more back to  
the settlement. We should have brought the Sacajawea."  
  
"We are only two point two four kilometers from the  
settlement," Tuvok pointed out.  
  
Tom groaned, and started walking. "Only. Why did we have to  
draw the most distant foraging area?"  
  
"There was no random element involved. I am a Vulcan and  
you are a tall, able-bodied human with a higher than  
average strength index. Thus we were the logical choice."  
  
"Right." Tom pushed a hanging tree branch out of his face  
with his free hand. The surrounding foliage was dense,  
since they were right by the river. He could hear the rush  
of water to his right, though they had foraged into an area  
where the river was in a small canyon below them rather  
than right next to them.  
  
Tuvok spoke from behind him. "I suggest caution,  
Lieutenant. The ground in this area is uneven."  
  
"I just hope we're on the path."  
  
"We have drifted from the original path, though it is of  
little consequence since they are only poorly marked animal  
trails. When the river turns, the path will become  
clearer."  
  
To Tuvok maybe. Tom doubted he would even be able to tell.  
He'd know where he was going once the trees thinned and the  
settlement was visible across the grassy flatland. He'd  
never had much sense of direction on land, the way he did  
in space. Still, he did appreciate the scenic value of  
these woods, not to mention the beautiful waterfall just  
upstream. He could think of a few advantages to finding a  
secluded glade here where he and B'Elanna could be alone.  
Thanks to this drill this was one more week when they'd  
spent too little time with each other. He wondered if he  
could trade rotations with someone tomorrow so he and  
B'Elanna could be in the program together. Then they could  
sneak away for an hour and find the perfect spot in these  
woods--  
  
"Lieutenant, you are straying too far to your right."  
  
Tom had been so engrossed in his thoughts he hadn't noticed  
that the ground had begun to slope sharply on his right.  
Just as he started to take a step back his foot slipped,  
and he followed. He slid over the sloping ground for  
several meters, just missing a tree, until the ground  
abruptly flattened and ended. He reached out futilely but  
his momentum carried him, and he hit open air for a heart-  
stopping moment. That moment passed into the next as he  
remembered with relief that he was in a holoprogram. Then  
he landed with a thud.  
  
Tom cursed and rubbed his hip. Safeties or not, the sharp  
rock he'd landed on had hurt. And it had ripped his pants.  
He looked at the river, approximately forty meters below  
him. Then he looked up some five meters, where the uneven  
slope he'd tumbled down ended in the sharp precipice above  
him. It was not a great cliff as cliffs go, but big enough.  
He stood gingerly on the jutting bit of ground where he'd  
landed. It was no more than a small ledge in the cliffside.  
  
"Mister Paris."  
  
Tom looked up again, and saw Tuvok staring down at him  
impassively. "I'm fine, Tuvok."  
  
"Indeed. You are however in a precarious position."  
  
Tom could see that. The wall of the cliff was smooth, with  
nothing he could use as a handhold. The spot where Tuvok  
stood at the top of the cliff was two meters beyond his  
reach. "Did you happen to bring a rope?"  
  
Tuvok didn't bother to answer that rhetorical question.  
"Glibness will not rescue you from your predicament,  
Lieutenant. Your carelessness will one day be your  
undoing."  
  
Tom rolled his eyes. "It's a holoprogram, Tuvok." If he  
fell, he'd simply float to the rocks the lined the river  
directly below him. This wasn't even the kind of program  
where he'd be penalized or eliminated from the action if  
the safeties activated.  
  
"The drill is intended to simulate reality. If this were a  
real situation, your life would be in jeopardy. A fall onto  
the rocks from this height would likely be fatal. You have  
a history of taking your life lightly, but it might be  
provident to remember that you have a wife and a child now,  
and they are affected by your actions--"  
  
"All right, Tuvok! I wasn't looking where I was going.  
Geez, first Harry, and now you. Can you find a vine or  
something and pull me up without the lecture?"  
  
Tom's tone was snappish, but Tuvok merely raised an  
eyebrow, then disappeared from view. Tom sighed and shook  
his head. It wasn't like he'd fallen on purpose. And it  
wasn't like he took that many crazy chances with his life.  
Not anymore. Nowadays it seemed that had become B'Elanna's  
specialty--  
  
Something slapped Tom lightly in the cheek. He looked at  
the vine that hung nearly to his feet, and up at Tuvok, who  
was on his haunches gripping the other end of it. He didn't  
know how Tuvok had managed to find one so fast, but he  
didn't question it either. He simply wrapped the vine  
around his hands and turned to face the wall of the cliff,  
bracing one leg against it.  
  
"Ready."  
  
Tuvok pulled, and Tom used his legs to help hoist himself  
up. With that effort, and Tuvok's Vulcan strength, he was  
over the edge and sitting next to Tuvok in only a few  
seconds. He winced at minor rope burns on his palms as he  
unwound the vine from his hands. Then he looked at Tuvok.  
"Thanks."  
  
Tuvok tossed the vine aside. "You are welcome. I suggest  
caution as we ascend the incline."  
  
Tom followed Tuvok, noting that the incline was short and  
not particularly steep. If he'd been paying attention he  
could have easily saved himself from a fall. His sack of  
berries was still at the top--on the path such as it was--  
right next to Tuvok's. Fortunately he'd dropped it the  
moment he'd slipped, and only a few of the orange berries  
had spilled out. He picked up the sack and slung it over  
his shoulder, adjusting his grip a little to put less  
pressure on his reddened palms. "Why don't you lead,  
Tuvok."  
  
Tuvok nodded. "Very well."  
  
After a minute or so of silence as they walked, Tom spoke  
to Tuvok's back. "I'm sorry I was a little...hostile back  
there." He smiled inwardly at his own choice of words,  
thinking of his one time accusation to B'Elanna. Hostility  
was probably more attractive coming from her than he  
suspected it was from him.  
  
"An apology is unnecessary, Lieutenant. Vulcans do not  
experience offense at human emotional outbursts."  
  
"Right," Tom muttered. "But even if this isn't real, I'm  
admitting that I should have been more careful."  
  
"Agreed."  
  
Tom sighed. Tuvok was such a conversationalist. "Speaking  
of real, Harry seems worried this colonizing thing might  
become a reality some day. It's silly. I mean, at this  
point what are the odds that we won't get all the way  
home?"  
  
"The odds are, to quote a popular human phrase, fifty-  
fifty."  
  
Tom stopped in his tracks and stared at Tuvok's back.  
"What?"  
  
Tuvok paused and turned. "There is no way to calculate  
precise probabilities since we are traveling through  
unknown territory and have no idea what future hazards we  
may face. Thus, the odds can be no more accurate than  
fifty-fifty."  
  
Tom had never thought of it like that. They began walking  
again, side by side, since the path had widened. "Well, I  
can't say it matters all that much to me either way."  
  
"So I have surmised. You have never expressed a great deal  
of enthusiasm about returning to the Alpha quadrant."  
  
No, Tom didn't suppose he had.  
  
"I know that there are others among the crew who have found  
more stability on Voyager than they experienced in the  
Alpha quadrant, or expect to find there if we return  
successfully."  
  
Tom knew that was true for some of the Maquis, and  
certainly for those who'd been on the Equinox. For quite a  
while it had been true for him. Now, though he had minor  
concerns about his reception by Starfleet, and about  
B'Elanna's Maquis past, those concerns were secondary.  
"It's not that anymore. It's the cost of getting there.  
That cost has been running pretty high lately, and like you  
said, who knows what the future holds."  
  
Tuvok was silent, since they both knew the future could  
quite possibly hold more of the same. Tom shook his head as  
they moved through the trees. "Even a year ago I would have  
scoffed at the idea of colonizing, but I'm married now, and  
my wife is pregnant. After the way the past few weeks have  
gone--well, it could have easily been B'Elanna who was hurt  
or killed trying to keep Engineering safeguarded from the  
Borg drones." He pushed away the image of Marla Gilmore as  
she'd been for two weeks in Sickbay, comatose and barely  
clinging to life. He'd transposed B'Elanna's face onto  
Marla's too often during those weeks. "The truth is, if we  
had to colonize, I don't think I would object much anymore.  
I worry about my wife and baby. If that's wrong, well, I  
can't help it."  
  
"Concern for your wife and child is commendable,  
Lieutenant," Tuvok said. "However such concern does not  
give one the right to dictate the actions of others. To  
allow them independence despite that concern is a hallmark  
of maturity, as you have recently exhibited."  
  
Tom blinked. Was that actually a compliment? "Are you  
saying that I'm growing up, Tuvok?" he asked lightly.  
  
Tuvok studied him dispassionately. "So it would appear,  
Lieutenant Paris, belated as that development may be."  
  
Tom grinned. Now, *that* sounded more like Tuvok. "After  
all these years, it seems that you and I finally have a lot  
in common."  
  
Tuvok's eyebrow rose. "'A lot' would perhaps be overstating  
it."  
  
"We're both married, and we're both fathers. Well, I will  
be a father soon." Tom shook his head. "I never realized  
how that would change my priorities." He was still amazed  
how much those priorities had changed recently, for him and  
B'Elanna. "I can't always goof off in my spare time now,  
though I still run my Captain Proton program once in a  
while, for Harry's sake."  
  
Tom noted Tuvok's skeptical glance with a wry smile, and  
shifted the sack on his back. "When I had a couple of free  
hours recently, I actually spent the time designing and  
replicating a mobile for the baby's cradle. It's a mobile  
of different starships, including Voyager, and a Klingon  
Bird of Prey. Considering her parents, I don't guess she  
can help but be fascinated by starships flying above her  
head, huh? I suppose it's just a question of whether she'll  
grow up to be an engineer or a pilot. Though if she wants  
to do something else, that's fine too." He wasn't going to  
burden his daughter with rigid expectations. He knew too  
well what that felt like. "Whatever she chooses, I'll be  
right there to support her. She'll have to get used to  
having me around, but I plan to let her wrap me around her  
little finger so she probably won't protest--"  
  
"We are approaching the edge of the woods. Less talk and a  
quicker pace on your part will enable us to reach our  
destination sooner, Lieutenant."  
  
Tom was momentarily taken aback by Tuvok's brusque  
interjection, and then he had to rush to keep up as Tuvok  
increased his pace. The bag was definitely getting heavier  
as it bounced against his back. Okay, so he'd been talking  
a lot, but that wasn't a reason for Tuvok to try and kill  
him. He was about to demand that they slow down, when  
something occurred to him.  
  
Besides his three sons, Tuvok also had a daughter. If Tom  
recalled correctly, she'd still been a child the last time  
Tuvok had seen her. Since then Tuvok's only contact with  
his family had been through the datastream letters they'd  
been able to send back and forth this past year. Even  
though his own daughter wasn't here yet, Tom tried to  
imagine being separated from her for so long, and missing  
all those years watching her grow up. Not to mention being  
separated from B'Elanna for all that time...  
  
It wasn't something he wanted to imagine, or ever  
experience. Whatever hardships they all might still face on  
their journey, he had his wife and child with him, while  
Tuvok's wife and children were still twenty-seven thousand  
light years away.  
  
As they stepped beyond the last of the trees Tom could see  
the four buildings that now marked the settlement no more  
than a kilometer away. Between them and the settlement,  
Jurot and Kashimuro Nozawa were staking out the field where  
the first crops from the seed stores they'd managed to save  
would be planted in a few days. Would have been planted.  
Since they only had one more day in the program, they  
wouldn't get that far.  
  
"Tuvok."  
  
Tuvok slowed down--finally--and looked at Tom inquiringly.  
Tom had to take a couple of breaths before he could speak.  
"Despite any ambivalence I might have personally expressed,  
I do hope we get back to the Alpha quadrant."  
  
Tuvok met Tom's earnest gaze. "I too, hope we are  
successful in that endeavor, though personal preferences  
have little influence on the outcome."  
  
"Oh, I don't know, Tuvok," Tom said. "What about the  
captain? It's certainly her preference to get us there.  
Look how far her determination has gotten us, despite the  
odds, which now that you can look back must have been truly  
horrendous."  
  
Tuvok's eyebrow rose at Tom's dramatization. "In retrospect  
the odds were not in our favor by a substantial margin. If  
one employs typical human hyperbole, the odds against us  
reaching this point in our journey might well be considered  
horrendous."  
  
"Right! So if we're true to form, you'll probably being  
seeing your wife and kids again in no time."  
  
"Your reasoning is specious, Lieutenant," Tuvok said.  
"Though perhaps it will be so."  
  
Perhaps it would. If B'Elanna's transwarp project worked  
out Tom knew it would shorten the trip considerably, and  
hopefully lessen the dangers. But she was still struggling  
make her theory workable, so he didn't say anything as they  
began to walk toward the settlement. If they did make it  
back, he figured he could handle whatever waited for him,  
and B'Elanna, as long as the cost of getting there didn't  
get any higher.  
  
^*^*^*^  
  
Tuvok pressed the announcer, and at the captain's muffled  
"Enter" stepped into her ready room. Captain Janeway was  
seated on the couch, concentrating intently on a PADD, and  
she didn't look up immediately. "Captain, I have the  
current status reports for you, if you wish to review them  
before your rotation in the colonization drill."  
  
"Thank you, Tuvok." Janeway gestured with one hand. "Just  
put them on the desk."  
  
"Commander Chakotay stopped by Engineering to consult with  
Lieutenant Torres on scheduling matters. He expects to  
return to the bridge within the half hour."  
  
"I'm sure you can handle it in the meantime." Janeway  
glanced at the status reports. "No problems?"  
  
"It remains...quiet." It was their first lengthy period of  
such respite in the six weeks they'd been in this sector,  
and Tuvok saw from Janeway's expression that she was no  
more eager than he was to let down her guard because of a  
few calm days. "Sensors remain at full alert for presence  
of the Borg."  
  
Janeway nodded, then studied her PADD again for several  
moments. Tuvok was about to turn and leave, when she spoke.  
"Do you think this colonization program has been a  
worthwhile investment of time, Tuvok?"  
  
"I do, Captain."  
  
"The crew seems to be enjoying it, despite the  
unpredictable weather patterns, and another sighting of  
Bigfoot yesterday, this time by Ensign Golwat."  
  
Tuvok saw the rueful twist of her lips, and heard the  
subtle undercurrent of tension in her voice. He had not  
spent so many years with humans without being able to  
recognize their emotional nuances, and he knew no human  
better than Kathryn Janeway. "Enjoyment is incidental to  
the purpose of the drill, though distraction does appear to  
be a likely explanation for the crew's...lighthearted  
approach in the colonization program in contrast to the  
generally more somber demeanors of the preceding weeks."  
  
Janeway nodded. "Yes, I'm sure that's part of it. Commander  
Chakotay theorized a holoprogram is just the thing to give  
the crew a sense of normalcy again."  
  
"Indeed," Tuvok agreed. On other Starfleet ships where he'd  
served, nearly three-quarters of holodeck time was  
generally slotted to training simulations and standard  
calisthenics programs, and the remainder given over to  
personal use. It was the opposite on Voyager. Shore leave  
was an irregular and infrequent occurrence in the Delta  
quadrant, and the crew often spent weeks on end without  
outside contact or interaction, a difficult situation for  
social species' like humans. The lure of something besides  
the close walls that had been surrounding them for seven  
years was irresistible to many. Whether it was a  
planetscape, a favored bar, an adventure program, or a  
holonovel, the holodeck provided variety, and that kind of  
escape was the norm on Voyager, even when it served a  
training purpose.  
  
"After all, there were a few times we could have colonized,  
but there was no desire."  
  
Tuvok's eyebrow rose at the captain's softly spoken  
statement. He surmised she was making a correlation between  
the positive reaction of the crew to the doctor's  
colonization program and their attitudes in reality. Though  
he'd heard many positive opinions about the drill, no one  
had expressed a desire to make the program a reality. Even  
Lieutenant Paris's position expressed this morning could be  
considered neutral. "Affirmative. You offered them the  
opportunity to colonize once, and the crew as one gave you  
their answer. They have never shown an inclination to halt  
our journey."  
  
"Of course, some are no longer here to give an opinion,"  
Janeway mused, her eyes still focused on the PADD in her  
hand. "It occurs to me that they might still be here if we  
had chosen to remain on the Briori homeworld with Amelia  
Earhart and her group, or had stopped somewhere else along  
the way before we encountered the Borg and made them more  
dangerous enemies than they already were."  
  
Tuvok knew Janeway had a difficult time dealing with deaths  
among her crew, though she took care to conceal her  
distress in public. This latest round of deaths--after a  
period of two years, ten months and thirteen days during  
which they'd suffered no casualties--had been traumatic for  
the crew, and perhaps more so for the captain. Two weeks  
ago she had borne the personal responsibility of informing  
the deceased crewmembers' friends and family--in one case  
including wife and child--of their fates, via the  
datastream transmission. Such a task took an emotional toll  
on a human, especially one who held herself partly  
responsible for those deaths.  
  
"Your assumption is thoroughly illogical, Captain."  
  
Janeway's head jerked up, and her gaze met his.  
"Thoroughly?"  
  
Though she spoke with soft irony and was smiling faintly,  
Tuvok observed the stiffness in her posture. "There is no  
way to know how the crew might have fared on a colony,  
whether the Briori homeworld or a later chosen location. A  
large natural disaster, or an attack from the Borg or  
another hostile race, like the Kazon or Hirogen, might have  
killed even more."  
  
Janeway gave Tuvok a skeptical look. "Maybe."  
  
"We do know that had we remained on the Briori homeworld,  
or colonized later to avoid the confrontation between the  
Borg and Species 8472, Seven would still be a Borg drone,  
and the children we rescued from the Collective, including  
Icheb, would certainly be dead now. Civilizations we've  
contacted and affected in various ways wouldn't have known  
our presence, perhaps altering their future courses in an  
unknowable manner. Without our intervention it is also  
possible that Species 8472 would have gained the foothold  
they were seeking in this galaxy and, as was their original  
intent, would be engaged in systematically destroying  
numerous planets and civilizations in their path,  
eventually reaching the Federation."  
  
"So it's all just a tradeoff?" Janeway asked wryly.  
  
"It is simply what is, Captain. You could as well wish  
Voyager had never gone after the Freedom, resulting in both  
ships being pulled into the Caretaker's anomaly. Such  
speculation changes nothing, and you still do not know if a  
different decision at any point would have boded more well  
or ill for all involved in the end. Undoing the negative  
consequences also means undoing the positive, and  
predicting those consequences accurately is far beyond even  
a Vulcan's abilities."  
  
"What you say is completely logical, Tuvok." Janeway gave  
him a rueful smile. "But knowing that doesn't erase  
regrets."  
  
"Regrets are a useless expenditure of time, Captain." Tuvok  
refrained from noting that even Vulcans experienced that  
particular state of mind on occasion. "The only reasonable  
course available is to continue moving forward, basing your  
decisions on the conditions of the present moment."  
  
Janeway nodded. "I'm sure you're right, Tuvok. I'll even  
try and remember it." She stood, and placed her PADD on her  
desk. "Meanwhile, you have the conn. I'll be in holodeck  
one, where hopefully the weather has improved."  
  
"That was the case during the first rotation. Commander  
Chakotay reported that the infirmary is now being raised,  
and the food supply is stabilizing."  
  
"I see." Janeway strode toward the door. Well, as long as  
there are no more hurricanes, floods or earthquakes, then  
I'll try to...enjoy myself."  
  
Tuvok considered that a reasonable plan. "Captain."  
  
Janeway turned and looked at him questioningly.  
  
"My door is open, as always."  
  
Janeway nodded, and a ghost of a smile touched her face for  
a moment. "I know, Tuvok. Thank you."  
  
Tuvok followed Janeway to the bridge, and took the command  
chair as she entered the turbolift. He had no idea if she  
would accept his most recent appeal. Her inclinations in  
that matter were not very predictable. He had offered  
assisted meditation early in their journey, and over the  
years the captain had occasionally accepted that offer,  
sometimes at his reiteration, though other times she had  
simply shown up unannounced, seeking the solace and peace  
that meditation briefly gave her.  
  
Since the captain was not a Vulcan meditation could not  
completely suffice to ease the emotional stresses inherent  
in her position, or in the unique responsibilities she  
shouldered while they remained isolated in the Delta  
quadrant. Though there were various measures that could  
reduce such emotional stress, for humans the presence of an  
intimate confidant who could share the emotional burden was  
the most beneficial solace. But Janeway chose to carry her  
burden alone, for reasons that were logical if to his mind  
not entirely necessary.  
  
Captain Janeway was amazingly stubborn, even for a human,  
and Tuvok knew she would deal with her recent losses and  
doubts in her own way and in her own time. In the meantime  
he would continue to offer what he could to his oldest and  
closest human friend, and hope it helped to ease her  
burdens in some small way.  
  
Act Four  
  
Harry entered Voyager's mess hall for breakfast and  
immediately spotted Tom sitting at a corner table. B'Elanna  
wasn't with him and Harry remembered that she was in the  
colonization program for the first rotation today. He  
hadn't seen Tom outside of the bridge over the past couple  
of days, and though they'd traded a few casual greetings  
there, Harry knew that last conversation in the program was  
still between them.  
  
Neelix was busy, so Harry poured himself a cup of coffee,  
and walked toward Tom's table. Tom looked up as he  
approached and smiled. "Hey, Harry. Have a seat."  
  
Harry accepted the invitation, and looked at the half-eaten  
pancakes on Tom's plate as he sat down. "That actually  
looks pretty good."  
  
"It is. Neelix outdid himself today, apparently in honor of  
the final day of the colonization drill. I'm sure you're  
glad that's almost over."  
  
There was no rancor or derision in Tom's voice. Harry  
shrugged. "I guess it hasn't been too horrible as  
holoprograms go."  
  
Tom looked surprised. "Really?"  
  
Harry grinned. "Well, it certainly isn't Captain Proton."  
  
Tom grinned back. "Hardly."  
  
"But it's been...educational. I learned a few new skills."  
Skills Harry sincerely hoped he'd never have to use, but he  
didn't have to tell Tom that. He took a sip of his coffee,  
and set it down. "Tom, I'm sorry. I know I was out of line  
the other day--"  
  
"Forget it. I understand."  
  
"I know it's just a holoprogram. It's not like we're really  
colonizing, or--"  
  
"Giving up?"  
  
Harry smiled sheepishly. "I didn't mean that exactly  
either. I know you've always been ambivalent about  
returning to the Alpha quadrant, and seeing your father and  
all."  
  
"It wasn't just him. I left the Alpha quadrant persona non  
grata, and I could name dozens of people who wouldn't have  
shed a tear if I'd died."  
  
"No one thinks that anymore!"  
  
Tom smiled. "Probably not. If we get there--and I'm sure we  
will--that's fine with me. There are some fences I'd like  
to finish mending. If for some reason we have to stop short  
somewhere though, I can't lie and say I'll be completely  
devastated. That doesn't mean I want to stop right now and  
find a planet to colonize--"  
  
"I know. It just means that you've already got everything  
you want, whichever happens."  
  
Tom stared at Harry thoughtfully for a moment. "You're  
right. It took a while for me to figure it out, but I have  
got everything I want." He smiled ruefully. "I even  
appreciate it for a change."  
  
Harry smiled back. He couldn't help but be happy for his  
friend, even if he felt a small twinge of envy.  
  
"Seven of Nine to Lieutenant Paris. Report to Astrometrics  
immediately."  
  
Harry's eyes widened as the comm line closed with a click.  
"Wow, she didn't even wait for a reply. What did you do?"  
  
Tom grimaced and pushed his chair back. "I'm a day late  
delivering my navigation reports. I'll just blame it on the  
colonization drill."  
  
Harry smirked. "Like Seven will buy that."  
  
"Well, it is partly true. I'll also thrown in some roguish  
charm and sincere remorse."  
  
"I'm sure that will work too," Harry said sardonically,  
though knowing Tom it just might.  
  
Tom shrugged. "Hey, it's worth a shot. By the way, enjoy  
your last day in the program. At the very least, I can  
promise you it won't be raining."  
  
Harry's eyes narrowed at mischievous gleam in Tom's eyes.  
"You altered the doctor's program, didn't you?"  
  
"Who, me?" Tom asked innocently. "Nope. I just kept watch."  
  
It took only a moment for Harry to recall how much B'Elanna  
disliked rain. "I sure hope the doctor never finds out."  
  
"Harry, Harry...this is B'Elanna we're talking about."  
  
"Right." If anyone could conceal sabotage completely it  
would be B'Elanna. Harry grinned. "Guess I'll enjoy the  
sunshine then."  
  
Tom grinned back. "You do that. I'll see you  
later...Lieutenant."  
  
Harry watched Tom stride out of the mess hall. He had to  
admit he really liked being addressed by his new rank--and  
Tom did it often, partly in his typical Paris teasing  
manner with that drawled delivery, and partly because he  
knew Harry liked hearing it, even if being a lieutenant  
hadn't turned out to be everything he'd thought it would  
be. It was *almost* everything, but he'd realized soon  
enough that achieving lieutenant rank hadn't improved every  
aspect of his life. It didn't keep him from missing his  
family back home, or from sometimes being lonely among a  
hundred and fifty other people he now considered his second  
family.  
  
He definitely envied his best friend. In his early days on  
Voyager Tom had insisted that there was no one he wanted to  
ever see again back home. He'd changed on that score, but  
Harry knew that wasn't the issue for Tom anymore. It was  
just as Harry had recognized, and as B'Elanna had said.  
Here or in the Alpha quadrant, Tom already had exactly what  
he wanted. And so did B'Elanna. To Tom, "home" was B'Elanna  
and the baby, and vice versa.  
  
It was so easy for them.  
  
Harry frowned, chasing away that ungracious and slightly  
bitter thought. He knew better than anyone that it hadn't  
been easy for them. Tom and B'Elanna had worked hard to get  
where they were. They'd stuck it out together through the  
toughest times, when most people would have just quit. But  
Tom and B'Elanna certainly weren't most people. They  
deserved their happiness. If he had what they'd found with  
each other, he might not care where he ended up either, as  
long as that one other person was there with him.  
  
Unfortunately that hadn't happened for him, not yet, and  
perhaps it never would on Voyager. Despite his attraction  
to Seven, which had evolved into a simple if solid  
friendship, his brief fling with Tal, and even his strong  
feelings for Lindsay Ballard--which he'd later admitted to  
himself had perhaps been a little idealized--when he woke  
in the middle of the night it was still Libby he sometimes  
missed--their easy conversation, their shared history and  
experiences, their laughter over the same jokes no one else  
understood. There'd never been anything official between  
them, but there would have been, in the neat, clearly  
defined life he'd planned out before he'd ended up in the  
Delta quadrant. Now she'd gone on with her life, as he had  
with his.  
  
Harry sighed. Maybe he and Libby hadn't had the kind of  
fireworks that Tom and B'Elanna had, but he was the type  
who could be very happy in a relationship based on easy  
conversation and comfortable companionship, with someone  
like Libby. Or like Marla...  
  
Lately, that was just where his mind had been wandering. To  
Marla Gilmore. When it did, he cut that speculation off  
ruthlessly. Or at least he tried. He couldn't deny his  
attraction to her, but he was tired of appearing desperate  
for love--and he knew that's how the crew saw him. He was  
wise to be wary of his feelings, considering his abysmal  
track record. And why should anything change now--  
  
"Lieutenant Kim, you're looking particularly solemn. Can I  
cheer you up with some banana pancakes? Well, its posha  
fruit actually, but according to Lieutenant Torres the  
flavor is quite similar to bananas."  
  
Harry looked at Neelix's smiling face and couldn't help a  
smile in return. Maybe breakfast would take his mind of his  
numerous failures at romance. "Sure, Neelix. Why not?"  
  
Neelix set the plate of steaming pancakes on the table.  
"What rotation are you on today?"  
  
"Second."  
  
"Ah, me too. It's been an experience, hasn't it? The  
settlement is shaping up to be quite livable. A bit crowded  
certainly, but with plenty of room for growth. Of course,  
you can't have more room for growth than an entire  
uninhabited planet, can you?"  
  
Harry supposed not, though he was saved from replying as  
Neelix rambled on.  
  
"I've been working on some great decorating ideas for my  
restaurant, and a marketing campaign--"  
  
"Neelix, you'd have the corner on the market," Harry  
pointed out dryly. "Besides, you're planning for something  
that will be gone tomorrow."  
  
"Oh, I know," Neelix replied. "Planning for contingencies  
is something we Talaxians do by habit. We learned long ago  
to be ready to adapt to whatever circumstances may face  
us."  
  
"I guess you'd adapt pretty easily to colony life, huh,  
Neelix?"  
  
"I can adapt to anything if I have to," Neelix said,  
without any false modesty. "But I must admit I've gotten  
used to having the stars outside my window. I'd miss that,  
and I'd miss Voyager. Besides, from all the stories the  
crew has told me, I'm very eager to see Earth and the Alpha  
quadrant."  
  
Harry didn't know if Neelix was really as eager as he  
claimed, but he appreciated the Talaxian's unerring ability  
to boost his spirit. "Keep those plans for your restaurant,  
Neelix, because you might get to open it in the Federation  
one day. You'll have the corner on the market there too,  
since I can assure you no other restaurant will be serving  
Delta quadrant cuisine."  
  
Neelix nodded enthusiastically. "Exactly my plan,  
Lieutenant. Though right now I have to get back to flipping  
pancakes, since I see a new group of arrivals. See you in  
the program later."  
  
Harry watched Neelix hurry back to the kitchen. He thought  
of the Pojzan as he dug into his pancakes, and he wondered  
how they were faring in their safe haven. He hoped they  
were doing well. Certainly colonizing a planet, especially  
one with beautiful vistas and plenty of resources, could be  
a great thing for some, if they no home and no place else  
to go, like the Pojzan. But Voyager had some place else to  
go, and the crew had a home waiting for them. And he was  
exactly who and where he wanted to be in the interim, a  
lieutenant on a ship in Starfleet.  
  
Even if colony life wasn't something that interested him,  
Harry decided he might as well enjoy the program today.  
Maybe he could join one of the food foraging teams. He  
hadn't done that yet, and he'd heard it was quite scenic by  
the river. He might as well get a look at it before the  
program was over for good. And while it wasn't raining.  
  
^*^*^*^  
  
It was the end of the third rotation, and the sun was about  
to set over the settlement. Tom had just left with Mario  
Gennaro and Gerry Culhane, after finishing a test pilot run  
on the "revamped" Sacajawea. Amanda Lang and Will Peterson  
were completing their inventory of the tools in the storage  
building and then they'd be gone. A handful of others were  
moving around, finishing whatever tasks they'd been  
assigned before the program ended and the settlement they'd  
built over the past six days faded away and existed only as  
a file among thousands in the computer's holodeck  
subdirectory.  
  
Chakotay had just finished conferring with U'Lanai and  
Brian Sofin about the windows they'd installed in the  
infirmary. That building had been finished today, the last  
one to be built during their six day plan. He was about to  
follow them out of the program when he spotted another  
person who hadn't left yet. She was sitting on the steps in  
front of the mess hall, her attention focused on the  
western hills in the distance.  
  
Chakotay watched Kathryn Janeway for several seconds, then  
changed course and walked in her direction. They hadn't  
talked much beyond official duty concerns over the past  
couple of days. They'd had different rotations in the  
program, and different bridge shifts to compensate, so  
there hadn't even been the opportunity for one of their  
frequent working dinners. He wasn't sure if his perception  
that she had become more receptive to the program recently  
was accurate, though her presence here when she could have  
already left was probably a good sign.  
  
She looked up as he approached. She was haloed by the  
sunset, and her auburn hair glowed with the reflected red  
light of the sun. Her lips curved into small smile, and she  
made a motion with her hand, inviting him to sit.  
  
So far, so good. He sat down next to her, their knees  
nearly touching and asked, "So, what's a starship captain  
like you doing out here contemplating the sunset?"  
  
Before she could answer another voice spoke.  
  
"Evening Captain, Commander."  
  
They both looked up as Joe Carey stopped in front of them.  
"I'm on my way out, but I just wanted to say I think this  
drill went very well. Even if it was only a holoprogram, we  
accomplished quite a lot, didn't we?"  
  
The captain smiled faintly. "Yes, we did."  
  
"I also really enjoyed it, though I guess wasn't exactly  
the point."  
  
"There were no rules against it, Mister Carey," Chakotay  
said dryly.  
  
Joe grinned. "Guess not. After my last letter home..." He  
paused, his expression sobering. "Well, even the things I  
didn't say probably got back to my wife and kids from the  
official logs. This will be something to tell them in my  
next letter to let them know we're all doing okay now. I'm  
glad the doctor came up with this idea."  
  
"So am I," the captain told him.  
  
Joe nodded. "Goodnight."  
  
"Goodnight, Lieutenant."  
  
Chakotay watched Joe stride away, then nudged Kathryn  
lightly with his shoulder. "Did you mean that?"  
  
She looked at him evenly. "Mister Carey is right. This is  
quite an accomplishment in six days."  
  
Chakotay looked at the settlement around them. Right now it  
was just five buildings and one lone shuttlecraft on a  
small grassy plain. Light shone from some of the windows in  
the approaching dusk, and one could easily imagine the  
buildings were occupied by unseen colonists. It was  
spartan, yet somehow cozy with its implied sense of  
community. It was a fledgling effort so far, not a home  
yet, but it could easily grow into one.  
  
He looked at Kathryn again. "I'm sure you expected nothing  
less from your crew. But that's not exactly what I meant."  
  
Kathryn gave him a measuring look in return. "I've also  
come to realize they did need the distraction after weeks  
of being on constant alert. We all did."  
  
There was nothing worse than feeling powerless, than  
knowing your enemy was determined to strike at you, but not  
knowing when or how it would happen. Despite his optimistic  
comment after the briefing six days ago, Chakotay didn't  
doubt that they would meet up with more Borg trouble before  
they managed to escape this sector. At least this program  
had relieved some of the low-level anxiety the crew had  
been living with for weeks. And the captain had been living  
with too. "What about your personal feelings on the issue?"  
  
Kathryn frowned. "You mean my personal feelings about  
colonizing?"  
  
"That did seem to influence your early opinion of the  
program."  
  
"I guess it did." She looked into the distance, where the  
bottom half of this planet's sun had sunk behind the hills.  
The sky was streaked orange and red. "I can recognize that  
there are certain...attractions to this simulated colony  
life. Sunsets for instance."  
  
"That's one attraction," Chakotay agreed. There were  
others. Even during in his first stint in Starfleet, he'd  
known he wasn't the kind of 'Fleeter who loved ship life so  
much he didn't care if he ever set foot on land again. He'd  
assumed that once he tired of the adventure he'd want to  
put down roots, feel real soil under his feet, and have a  
sky stretching over his head instead of stars out of a  
viewport.  
  
"What about *your* personal feelings on the subject?"  
Kathryn asked, startling him out of his thoughts. Her gaze  
on him was intent. "We both know there have been times when  
you would have been willing to colonize."  
  
Though she'd shifted the subject away from her own  
feelings, he answered her question. "That's true, but only  
when I thought it would be the safest alternative." A  
shadow crossed Kathryn's face, a reflection of their recent  
losses, he suspected, rather than the time they'd so  
vocally argued the issue when both the Borg and Species  
8472 had been lurking like wolves at their door. He knew  
those recent deaths were still weighing on her. He gave her  
a crooked smile. "But you've always proved me wrong. I  
guess that's why you're the captain and I'm only the first  
officer."  
  
Kathryn managed a weak smile in return. "Maybe."  
  
"Though I admit on occasion I have thought about what all  
our lives would be like if we'd colonized. That's only  
natural."  
  
"Of course," Kathryn murmured, though Chakotay doubted  
she'd never entertained such thoughts. "So, hypothetically  
speaking, what would our lives be like?"  
  
"Well...since we wouldn't be Starfleet officers anymore,  
but colonists, the barriers of rank would be gone. That  
would have likely redefined some relationships." Chakotay  
didn't flinch at Kathryn's sharp gaze. He meant exactly  
what she was thinking. "There would be plenty of  
challenges, as we've seen in this program--sustainable food  
production, weather protection, extracting energy  
resources--but we'd handle them as a community."  
  
"We already *are* a community, Chakotay," Kathryn said  
pointedly.  
  
He nodded. "Yes, we are. But if we had colonized, our  
priorities would be different. We'd be focused on building  
a permanent home, on settling into that new home, and then  
on...pairing off and procreating."  
  
That last comment elicited a small, wry laugh from Kathryn.  
"That concept's not exactly unheard of on Voyager."  
  
"Not for some," Chakotay agreed.  
  
Kathryn gave him another piercing look, though he saw the  
amusement lurking in her eyes. "You're taking a lot for  
granted, Commander."  
  
"Am I?" Chakotay asked blandly. Her eyebrows rose but she  
didn't answer. "Anyway, colony life would be very much  
focused on taking care of the day to day needs and  
problems, though there would be plenty of rewards, like  
watching a beautiful sunset."  
  
Kathryn looked at him reproachfully. "You make it sound  
like you think our lives would have been better if we'd  
colonized."  
  
It would have been the difference between a journey with no  
certain end, and having reached a destination, even if that  
destination wasn't the original intent. The difference  
between postponing various aspects of their lives, and  
embracing them--yet at the same time having given up a goal  
that was paramount to most of them.  
  
"Not better or worse," Chakotay said softly. "Just  
different."  
  
"Perhaps when we were sixty or seventy years from home,  
with no way to contact our families, that would have been  
true," Kathryn said. "Now we're twenty years away, maybe  
far less if B'Elanna's project pans out, and we're in  
regular contact with Starfleet. Since we've been able to  
send letters back and forth, the crew is even more eager to  
get home and see their families again."  
  
Which made her even more determined to get them there, no  
matter what. Her expression was almost mutinous.  
"Kathryn..." Chakotay put his hand over hers. "I was  
speaking hypothetically, remember? I may not be as dead set  
as you are against colonizing if it became our best option,  
but it's never been my first choice, and I'm certainly not  
advocating it now. I'd like to get this crew safely back to  
the Alpha quadrant as much as you would."  
  
"Good," Kathryn said softly. She looked at the sunset  
again. The sun had slipped completely behind the hills, and  
the sky was streaked deep pink and purple. "Because as  
beautiful as a place like this is, and as pleasant as I'm  
sure this life could be, to me it's still a worst case  
scenario, Chakotay--something to fall back on only if it's  
our last option."  
  
"I agree," Chakotay said, though he figured there was a  
substantial difference in definition between his 'best"  
option and Kathryn's "last" option. "Besides, maybe it's  
enough that we've already founded one colony in the Delta  
quadrant."  
  
When Kathryn gave him a puzzled look, he said, "The Demon  
class planet?"  
  
"Oh." She was silent for several moments, her gaze  
reflective. "I think about that place sometimes, and wonder  
what's happened to our counterparts. From the example of  
that Tom and Harry, it seemed like they might spend all  
their time staring spellbound at the 'beauty' around them."  
  
Chakotay recalled that Tom and Harry's vacant-gazed  
euphoria in their surrounding environment, an environment  
the real crew had found harsh and unforgiving--a hellhole  
in fact. "Even though they're partly formed from that  
planet, I can't help but think their humanity would have  
eventually reasserted itself. By now I'm guessing they've  
built a colony much like this one, and are happily raising  
dozens of children."  
  
Kathryn let out a soft, husky laugh. "That would make them  
very fast workers, but you could be right." She gave him an  
arch look. "Do you think that Chakotay is any good at  
building bathtubs?"  
  
Chakotay grinned. "No doubt that was the first human trait  
that reasserted itself in my counterpart. A deep desire to  
build a bathtub for your counterpart."  
  
Kathryn smiled. "No doubt." Then she sighed. "I hope they  
are faring well, though I guess we'll never know for sure."  
  
"Probably not. Maybe it's better that some things remain a  
mystery. But that's how I like to think of them."  
  
Kathryn nodded. "So do I." She glanced again toward the  
fading sunset. "Maybe right now they're seeing something as  
beautiful to them as--Chakotay."  
  
The abrupt change in her tone as she said his name and the  
sudden tension in her body alerted him, and he followed her  
gaze. A figure stood some thirty meters away, at the  
nearest edge of the settlement's current boundary. Though  
Chakotay thought several of the crew might still be in the  
program--he hadn't seen the doctor leave yet, for one--this  
figure was far too tall and bulky to be any of them. In  
fact it was covered from head to toe in a long dense coat  
of fur.  
  
"The infamous Bigfoot?" Kathryn asked in a whisper.  
  
"I assume so," Chakotay said in the same hushed tone, even  
though it was unlikely the creature--it seemed too humanoid  
to think of it as an animal--could hear them unless they  
shouted. The creature took two steps forward in a very  
human-like gait, then paused again. In the deepening dusk,  
Chakotay could just make out its large, amber eyes. Those  
eyes seemed to be staring right at him.  
  
"He's looking at us," Kathryn said, echoing Chakotay's  
thought.  
  
There was a small flash on the ground several meters away  
from the creature, just beyond the dark bulk of the  
Sacajawea. Chakotay knew it was the ground-based force  
field. No doubt a small animal had wandered into it and had  
received a mild shock. The creature glanced that way, but a  
moment later its attention returned to them. It made no  
attempt to approach closer, as if it knew another step  
would take it into the force field. It just kept watching  
them.  
  
"I'm getting a weird feeling, Chakotay. Does his gaze  
look...intelligent?"  
  
"Could be a her," Chakotay said. Those yellow eyes didn't  
waver, and he felt a small shiver go down his spine. The  
doctor had used very general parameters for this program,  
but Chakotay knew one of those parameters had specified no  
sentient life. Yet he almost felt he should speak to the  
creature, and if he did, that it would respond. Maybe the  
doctor hadn't been clear about that parameter, as he hadn't  
about the weather patterns, and the computer had responded  
with its own interpretation.  
  
Just as Chakotay wondered if he was ascribing too much  
creative autonomy to the computer, the creature stirred  
abruptly, startling him, though Kathryn barely reacted. Her  
hand was still in his, and her gaze on the creature was  
rapt as it turned and strode away, its gait now heavy and  
somewhat awkward as it moved quickly. In a few moments it  
was gone, as if it had never been there.  
  
"That was odd," Kathryn finally murmured.  
  
"It's too bad the program is over in a few minutes. I feel  
like we should try to make first contact. Do you think the  
computer's holodeck subroutine would have the wherewithal  
to create a new intelligence on its own?"  
  
Kathryn shrugged. "I don't know. I guess it will remain a  
mystery in this case. As you said, some things are better  
left that way."  
  
So he had. He released her hand. "Ready?"  
  
Kathryn nodded quickly and stood. "Yes. I have a  
departmental review to finish. Tuvok is probably already  
there waiting for me."  
  
"I'd suggest a working dinner but with all the schedule  
shuffling to accommodate the doctor's drill, I ended up  
with a half shift on the bridge tonight."  
  
"Weren't you the one making the schedule?"  
  
Chakotay shrugged. "I didn't want to dump all the night  
shifts on Lieutenant Kim, eager as he is for command."  
  
Kathryn laughed. "Nice of you to sacrifice yourself." Then  
her gaze sharpened on him. "By the way, I haven't forgotten  
about that martyr comment."  
  
"I didn't think you had. I meant it in a nice way."  
  
Kathryn gave him a dubious look. "Uh huh. I'm not going to  
apologize for doing whatever is necessary to take care of  
my ship and crew and keep them safe, Commander. I'm the  
captain, and that goes with the territory."  
  
Chakotay had a feeling she'd rehearsed that defense. He  
knew her willingness to put her crew before herself was one  
reason the crew followed her unquestioningly. "I  
understand, Captain. However, as first officer, it's my job  
to take care of you and keep you safe. That goes with the  
territory."  
  
Kathryn stared at him narrowly for a moment, then accepted  
that with a nod and a small smile. "Computer, arch." She  
glanced back for a brief moment, then stepped through as  
the arch opened. "I'd better go. You know how impatient  
Tuvok gets when he's kept waiting." They shared a brief  
smile. "One night soon we'll get to that working dinner."  
  
"I'll hold you to it," Chakotay said, though she was  
already striding down the corridor. He took a step into the  
arch and stopped, neither completely in the colonization  
program, nor in the corridor of Voyager. He looked back,  
though there was little to see now but the few lights of  
the settlement. The darkness was almost complete, and the  
stars were out--the same stars that were visible right now  
through any viewscreen on Voyager.  
  
He'd meant what he'd told Kathryn. He wanted to get the  
crew back to the Alpha quadrant. He looked forward to  
seeing his own family there, especially his sister. But  
they had formed a family of sorts here too. For a few, this  
cobbled-together version on Voyager was their only family.  
Once they reunited with the families waiting in the Alpha  
quadrant, it seemed inevitable that this family would break  
up. At the very least, it could no longer exist on the  
same terms. He doubted many had thought yet of that  
tradeoff, or would until the time presented itself. But  
that was life--always a balance between gain and loss, with  
the hope that the gain would outweigh the loss. For many  
that would be so when they got back to Earth. But not for  
all.  
  
Chakotay took one last look at the settlement, and thought  
of roads taken and roads not taken. He thought of the one  
road he was still waiting to take, if she would just take  
the first step on that road with him. Then he stepped into  
the corridor and let the holodeck door close behind him.  
  
^*^*^*^  
  
The doctor had watched the captain and Commander Chakotay  
leave the program a few minutes earlier. Now he stood alone  
in front of the infirmary, surveying the settlement. It was  
almost dark now, but light shone warmly from the two  
dormitories and the mess hall, though the buildings were  
silent and empty. If this program were real, the crew of  
Voyager might be in that mess hall--or restaurant as Mister  
Neelix preferred to call it--eating together, before they  
retired to the dormitories to sleep. The food would be a  
mix of salvaged rations and local plants and fruits mixed  
in a no doubt questionable manner by Neelix, but it would  
sustain them. Life here would be elemental to start, but  
they would survive, and eventually they would thrive.  
  
The doctor sighed, surprised to realize that he would miss  
the program. He was very proud of it--it was after all a  
clever concept for an emergency procedures drill and  
evidence of the higher evolution of his creative thinking  
subroutines. He thought even the captain, who'd clearly  
been resistant to the idea in the beginning, had come to  
appreciate the value of his drill. The crew had proved even  
more adept than he'd expected, though he knew despite his  
sometimes sarcastic observations that every crewmember on  
Voyager was fully capable of handling any situation that  
faced them.  
  
The crew had embraced his colonization concept, though  
they'd embraced it as a holoprogram--something different  
from their normal routine--not as a possible reality.  
Still, it had made him wonder what life would be like for  
them--and for him--if this were real, or if it became real  
some day. Some of the crew still had reservations about  
their reception the Alpha quadrant, and the doctor knew his  
own future was uncertain. The EMH Mark Ones were obsolete,  
and though he'd clearly exceeded the limitations of his  
programming to an astonishing degree, that didn't guarantee  
his place in the Federation. His dreams of research grants  
from Starfleet Medical might come to naught. He did have  
his holonovel in progress, and if that became the success  
he expected it would be, he could always turn it into a  
whole series of holoadventures. He wouldn't mind being a  
famous author, giving lectures and signing autographs for  
his adoring public--  
  
//Program shutdown in three minutes.//  
  
The doctor frowned at the computer's interruption. He  
wasn't ready to go. "Computer, cancel automated shutdown."  
  
//Automated shutdown canceled.//  
  
The doctor nodded in approval as a voice spoke behind him.  
  
"Doctor."  
  
The doctor turned, surprised to see Seven. "Why are you  
still here?"  
  
Seven's eyebrow rose at his abrupt question. "I was  
completing my augmentation of the Sagan's aft circuit relay  
into the power grid. Does my presence disturb you?"  
  
The doctor shook his head. "Of course not. I just thought  
everyone else had gone."  
  
"Why have you chosen to cancel the automated shutdown and  
remain here?"  
  
"I'm...not quite ready to leave yet."  
  
"I see," Seven replied, though her quizzical expression  
made it clear that she didn't. "Is there some other  
objective you wish to accomplish?"  
  
"No. Why? Don't think I've accomplished the objective of my  
drill?"  
  
Seven didn't look particularly put out by the doctor's  
peevish tone. "Your drill was quite successful, Doctor. You  
have prepared the crew adequately for this possible  
outcome. In the event of a real colonization, they would  
survive comfortably, and eventually thrive."  
  
Seven's words mirrored his own thought earlier, and the  
doctor smiled. They did think alike. "Living on a colony  
would also have certain advantages that can't be found on a  
ship. Fresh air, sunshine, real gravity beneath your feet,  
and ample room for movement. It's really the most natural  
environment for humanoids, far more so than permanent  
residence on starships. Still, few humanoid species' do  
what's natural, or they never would have gone into space in  
the first place. I'm sure you could never imagine yourself  
living on a colony, could you, Seven?"  
  
He expected her to say that kind of simple life wasn't  
something that would interest her, given her superior  
technical knowledge and abilities. Instead she murmured,  
"Perhaps."  
  
The doctor was dumbfounded. "Perhaps?"  
  
"As you pointed out, Doctor, existence on a colony can have  
its advantages."  
  
"But you'd never want to give up your work on Voyager.  
You've told me before that it is a challenge you could find  
few other places."  
  
"Have I?" Seven asked, as if her eidetic memory would have  
allowed her to forget it. "The universe is filled with any  
variety of challenges, Doctor. One need only look, and  
apply oneself."  
  
The doctor frowned at her evasive answer. He wondered...  
"Have you talked to Axum lately?"  
  
Seven's expression softened subtly at the mention of Axum.  
"I spoke with him several days ago."  
  
"I see." The doctor felt that disturbing ache in his chest  
again. "So, has he found a suitable colony site yet?"  
  
"No. He continues to search."  
  
"Well, I hope he finds one soon," the doctor said  
sincerely. "I'm sure it will be comforting for you to know  
that he and his people have a place to call home, as we  
have on Voyager."  
  
"I hope for that also, Doctor."  
  
The doctor felt a sense of relief. What had he been  
thinking? Seven was content here. The crew was her family  
now. She'd said so herself--they were her Collective. She  
loved her work in Astrometrics. She'd even started wearing  
a uniform. Certainly she was fond of Axum, given their  
shared past, but Voyager was her home--  
  
"I wonder if I will ever feel such certainty about where I  
belong."  
  
The doctor stared at her, nonplused. "Seven, after all this  
time, you cannot doubt your place on Voyager or among this  
crew!"  
  
Seven met his distraught gaze. "I do not doubt that I have  
achieved acceptance here, Doctor. I also recognize my good  
fortune. Unlike most of the drones severed from the Borg  
Collective, I had you and the rest of the crew to help me  
reclaim my individual identity. Those on the Trefla, and  
many others, have had no such support."  
  
"Seven, you shouldn't feel guilty about that. It's not your  
fault."  
  
"I know, Doctor. I benefited from random circumstance, not  
through any special merit of my own. I am disturbed by that  
dichotomy. I am like them, yet I am not."  
  
"You may have a similar history, but you're not like any of  
them. And they're no longer like each other. That's what it  
means to be an individual--you make your own choices. As  
Axum and Cretia made their individual and completely  
different choices."  
  
Seven looked thoughtful. "I do not know if it is that  
simple, Doctor. If it is, perhaps I also have some choices  
to make."  
  
The doctor didn't like the sound of that. "As long as you  
remember that Voyager is your home, Seven."  
  
"Is it?" Seven asked. "One way or another, that will end  
some day, Doctor, for all of us. Right now I have several  
reports to finish in Astrometrics, but I will consider your  
words. Goodnight."  
  
"Seven..." Though she looked at him expectantly, the doctor  
could think of nothing to say except a quickly stammered,  
"Goodnight."  
  
He watched her go, knowing with a certain resignation that  
she was right. Their life on Voyager was finite. Their  
journey would eventually end, and their lives would change,  
whether they arrived at Earth or stopped somewhere else.  
One day--perhaps soon, perhaps many years from now--his  
life would change, and he would no longer be Voyager's EMH.  
  
And Seven...well, he'd already realized that their paths  
would never completely converge, not the way he'd once  
desperately hoped. Now he wondered if their paths would  
diverge even more than he could have guessed. He looked at  
the darkness around him, alleviated only by the few lighted  
windows and the stars above, and wondered pensively what  
the future held. He felt a twinge of regret that this was  
just a holoprogram. For a moment he was tempted to save it  
to his personal directory, so he could take it forward  
along its simple, certain progression--  
  
He shook his head. He hadn't even thought of a name for  
this colony. This was a training scenario, nothing more.  
Whatever the future did hold, however similar or different  
it might prove to be from the life he knew on Voyager or  
the simulated life they'd fashioned here for six days, that  
was where his attention should be focused right now.  
Still...  
  
"Computer, end program and save to holodeck training  
subdirectory."  
  
The hills, the river, the grass and trees, the stars, and  
the five buildings that had risen through sweat and hard  
work over the past six days all winked out around him. The  
doctor nodded, and then strode out of the holodeck, headed  
for Sickbay.  
  
Epilogue  
  
Janeway stepped into Holodeck one, and a momentary  
sensation of disorientation hit her. Instead of the  
fledgling settlement that had evolved here for six days,  
she was in a bar, though not an unfamiliar one. She saw  
immediately that it was the doctor's version tonight,  
evidenced by the piano in the middle of the room instead of  
a pool table. Despite their tendency to needle each other  
constantly in Sickbay, Tom and the doctor willingly shared  
the Sandrine's program with no friction at all. In fact she  
spotted Tom and B'Elanna seated at a table with Harry, and  
Chakotay.  
  
As if he'd sensed her regard, Chakotay looked up and smiled  
as she raised a hand in greeting. Then he returned his  
attention to whatever Harry was saying. They'd missed  
another chance at a working dinner tonight but she'd  
expected he might be here.  
  
The place was crowded, she noted, with perhaps three dozen  
crewmembers gathered among the tables. Since the doctor's  
drill had ended yesterday, the crew had returned to their  
regular shifts today with a lighter step, more relaxed than  
they'd been in weeks. She'd heard a dozen rave reviews of  
the colonization program, though no requests to make it a  
reality.  
  
Janeway walked toward the piano as the doctor swept his  
fingers over the bars, finishing a piece with a crescendo.  
A smattering of applause followed before everyone returned  
to their conversations. Though his opera performances were  
received with a general lack of enthusiasm--a fact that  
seemed to fly over the doctor's head--his rendering of  
ballads and love songs, many from the same twentieth-  
century Tom found so fascinating, generally drew approval  
and sometimes a crowd in Sandrine's.  
  
"Doctor, may I?"  
  
The doctor looked up. "Of course. I didn't think you  
played, Captain."  
  
Janeway waved a hand as the doctor started to rise. "Stay  
where you are." She sat on the bench next to him. "I don't  
play, though I've always admired those who could."  
  
"I could teach you," the doctor offered. "Surprisingly only  
Lieutenant Nicoletti, Crewman Lessing, and Lieutenant Paris  
know how to play, though Mister Paris's playing is  
rudimentary, from lessons as a child I believe."  
  
"I appreciate the offer, Doctor, but music really isn't a  
talent I possess. I actually wanted to congratulate you on  
the success of your drill."  
  
The doctor looked surprised, though pleased. "Thank you,  
Captain. I appreciate you allowing me the opportunity."  
  
She certainly hadn't shown any early enthusiasm for the  
drill, but the doctor's humble tone surprised her. "You're  
welcome, Doctor. It was your turn, after all."  
  
"I thought you might be hesitant to include me  
after...well..."  
  
The doctor's voice trailed off, and Janeway suspected that  
he was recalling the events with the rogue holograms  
several months ago. She'd let him off easily--far too  
easily--and it was only later that she'd realized the  
implication of not holding him responsible in the same way  
she had held Tom responsible for his actions with the  
Moneans. She had fallen again into the trap of viewing the  
doctor differently--as less of a person than her flesh and  
blood crewmembers. Some lessons you just kept relearning.  
  
"That wasn't my objection," she assured the doctor. "You  
are a senior officer, and fully a member of this crew. Your  
drill was a success, and you should be proud. The crew  
learned some valuable skills, and enjoyed themselves in the  
process. In fact, you probably upstaged Tom's evacuation  
drill in their memory."  
  
"Really?" The doctor smiled, preening a bit at the thought,  
though a moment later his expression sobered as his  
attention focused on the door into Sandrine's.  
  
Janeway turned, not surprised to see Seven, accompanied by  
Naomi and Icheb. They walked to an empty table, PADDs in  
hand. She looked at the doctor again and saw the  
wistfulness in his gaze. She knew Seven had talked to Axum  
several times recently. She also knew very well how old  
feelings could resurface again--if they ever left at all.  
"You have another success story there, Doctor."  
  
When the doctor gave her a puzzled look, Janeway clarified,  
"Seven."  
  
The doctor looked at Seven again, his feelings nakedly  
visible in his eyes. "She has become quite an amazing young  
woman, hasn't she?"  
  
"Yes, she has, partly because of your friendship to her.  
I'm sorry. I know you wanted more."  
  
The doctor's brow furrowed. "What are you--did Lieutenant  
Paris talk to you?"  
  
Tom? Janeway shook her head. "No, he didn't say anything.  
I...guessed."  
  
"Have I been that obvious?" the doctor asked, dismayed.  
  
"No, of course not," Janeway said hastily, though the  
doctor was hardly a closed book. If she had noticed the  
signs, she was sure others besides Tom had too... "I don't  
think anyone else suspects."  
  
The doctor looked relieved. Then he sighed. "I know that  
Seven and I aren't meant to be. In fact she doesn't really  
need me anymore."  
  
Janeway had noticed recently that Seven was drawing away  
from her dependence on the doctor for social assistance.  
She was drawing away from all of them in that sense. "Seven  
has become her own person, Doctor. She's grown into her  
humanity, as we hoped she would. You should be proud,  
because you've helped make that happen for her. And she  
does still need you as a friend. That will never change."  
  
"I hope not," the doctor said. He looked at Seven pensively  
again. "Still, I wonder..."  
  
"What?"  
  
"If I had told her that I had...feelings for her, if I had  
said something before--well, I wonder if it would have made  
a difference."  
  
Janeway understood his meaning. Before Seven had met Axum  
again and remembered her life with him in Unimatrix Zero.  
"I honestly don't know, Doctor," she said gently. "I'm not  
sure Seven would have been ready then, in any case."  
  
The doctor smiled ruefully. "Probably not. But at least I  
would know that I hadn't squandered my opportunity because  
I was too afraid to admit my feelings."  
  
Janeway tried to think of something comforting to say, but  
before she could speak the doctor turned and looked at her  
gravely. "Captain, I owe you an apology. I once gave you  
some advice, and I've come to realize that it was the wrong  
advice."  
  
Janeway wasn't sure what the doctor was talking about, but  
she raised her eyebrows at his unusual admission. "You were  
wrong?"  
  
"It only happened that one time," the doctor assured her.  
  
Janeway smiled. "Of course. You'll have to clue me in,  
Doctor. What advice?"  
  
"I told you once that you couldn't possibly have a  
relationship with one of your crew, and that you had  
little choice but to settle for what you could have  
instead--in that case a relationship with a recreational  
hologram."  
  
Janeway winced a little at that phrasing. "Doctor, you were  
citing Starfleet protocol when you gave me that advice, and  
you were right to remind me--"  
  
"It is *suggested* protocol, Captain, not a set rule. There  
is no Starfleet statute expressly forbidding a relationship  
between a captain and his or her subordinate, only a strong  
admonition against such relationships. While I would agree  
that most are mistakes--and there have been a surprising  
number of such relationships, according to Starfleet  
annals--our situation here is very unique. We've sometimes  
found it necessary to reinterpret Starfleet protocol to fit  
our situation--"  
  
"You're right, Doctor," Janeway agreed. "Our situation is  
unique. On Voyager there is no option for one of the  
parties to transfer to another post, which is the usual  
result if an affair doesn't work out."  
  
"But we're not talking about simple affair, are we,  
Captain?"  
  
Janeway wanted to look away from the doctor's penetrating  
gaze. They weren't talking in generalities anymore; they  
were talking about Chakotay. After all this time, and after  
all they'd gone through together, if she got involved with  
Chakotay it wouldn't be a flash in the pan romance. That  
made it unlikely there would be the kind of messy break up  
that could undermine her authority. But it also meant there  
would be nothing simple about it--as the doctor surmised.  
That thought brought both yearning and trepidation. She  
fell instinctively back on her sense of duty. "My first  
responsibility is to the crew--"  
  
"Captain, with all due respect, I think you're using the  
crew as a shield, and you're treating them with disrespect  
in the process."  
  
Janeway stiffened. "I beg your pardon?"  
  
The doctor was undeterred by her icy tone. "This crew's  
loyalty to you is not based on mere duty. Perhaps it was  
seven years ago, when our journey started, but we're all  
part of a community now--a family. If you resolved to live  
your life fully, in every aspect, they wouldn't suddenly  
lose their respect for you or withdraw their loyalty. On  
the contrary, they'd be happy for you. Not one of them has  
ever expected you to remain in self-imposed isolation for  
the duration of our journey."  
  
"Doctor, I appreciate your opinion on my crew's state of  
mind--"  
  
"I know their state of mind, Captain. I'm their doctor. And  
I'm rescinding my original advice. What you do is your  
choice, but..." he paused and glanced at Seven once more  
before returning his gaze to Janeway. "I probably never had  
a chance, but you do. You let the opportunity pass once,  
with justifiable reasons. But if you keep waiting for the  
circumstances to be just right, one day you may find that  
the opportunity is gone, forever."  
  
Janeway looked at Chakotay. He was laughing at something  
Tom was saying. Was she really expecting him to wait  
forever? She'd once assumed she had given up her  
opportunity, for the better good, when she'd closed the  
door hard between them several years ago, quoting those  
Starfleet protocols. For some reason she couldn't quite  
fathom Chakotay had never completely given up on her, but  
if she kept on the way she was going, one day he would find  
someone else who could give him what he needed--  
  
"Captain?"  
  
Janeway returned her attention to the doctor. "I will  
consider what you've said."  
  
The doctor looked at her intently for a moment, then he  
nodded, satisfied. "I hope you do, Captain. In the  
meantime, any requests?"  
  
"What? Oh..." She realized the doctor hadn't played any  
music during the several minutes they'd been talking. No  
one seemed to have noticed, since the conversation and  
laughter had continued unabated around them. "Your choice,  
Doctor."  
  
The doctor nodded and began to play again, a soft, romantic  
melody. Janeway rose and squeezed him briefly on the  
shoulder. She had something to do.  
  
"You must remember this, a kiss is still a kiss," the  
doctor sang in his strong baritone. "A sigh is just a sigh.  
The fundamental things apply, as time goes by."  
  
Janeway walked around the small dance floor the doctor had  
added several months earlier to popular demand. Tom and  
B'Elanna were already there, swaying gracefully, B'Elanna's  
pregnancy obvious now even pressed close as she was against  
her husband. Her chief engineer's eyes were closed and  
there was a small, contented smile on her face that made  
Janeway's heart glad. She met Tom's equally satisfied gaze  
and smiled, then stepped aside as Angelo Tessoni and Tal  
Celes walked onto the dance floor together. She'd heard  
some rumors about those two recently. It appeared they just  
might be true.  
  
At Seven's table, Naomi stood and tugged at Icheb's hand.  
He shook his head, but a moment later he gave in. Janeway  
just caught Naomi's words as she pulled him toward the  
dance floor--"Don't worry. I'll teach you." Seven's eyebrow  
rose as Janeway's gaze met hers, and they shared an amused  
look at Naomi's youthful enthusiasm before Seven returned  
her attention to her PADD.  
  
A moment later Janeway realized that she'd crossed the  
room, and was now standing in front of his table. She  
didn't have anywhere else to focus her attention, except on  
the other person at the table who spoke first.  
  
"Evening, Captain."  
  
"Good evening, Lieutenant Kim," Janeway said. She smiled  
inwardly at the small and probably unconscious lift of  
Harry's shoulders at her address. Harry stood before she  
could add anything else. "If you'll excuse me, Captain."  
  
Janeway nodded, and watched Harry walk to the table where  
Marla Gilmore and Noah Lessing were sitting with the  
Delaney sisters. He slid in next to Marla, who looked happy  
to see him, reminding Janeway of another rumor she'd heard  
recently. If feelings were developing between those two,  
she figured Marla might have to do the pursuing since Harry  
had become a little reticent when it came to romance. If  
Marla made the effort, she'd certainly find out the young  
man was worth it.  
  
"Finished with that final departmental review, Captain?"  
  
Janeway finally looked at Chakotay. He was watching her  
with a small curious smile on his face. "I've finally  
caught up."  
  
"So you're a free woman for the evening," he said, dimples  
flashing as he motioned for her to join him. She shook her  
head, and his grin slipped just a little.  
  
Instead she held out her hand. "Would you care to dance?"  
  
They'd danced before, at official ship functions and  
holiday celebrations, in the semi-guise of duty, but never  
in a purely recreational program. And she'd never done the  
asking. To his credit, Chakotay's blank expression of  
astonishment only lasted a couple of seconds. Then he stood  
silently and took her hand. His eyes remained on hers as  
they moved to the dance floor, and when they stopped she  
saw the question in them, a question that she couldn't  
quite answer yet. Instead she put her hands on his  
shoulders, and felt him slip his arms around her waist.  
Their bodies brushed close and the doctor's voice drifted  
around them.  
  
"It's still the same old story, a fight for love and glory,  
a case of do or die..."  
  
She didn't want to think about duty and responsibilities,  
or decisions, right and wrong, or guilt, or loss. She  
didn't want to think about the Borg, or what was likely  
waiting out there for them next. She didn't even want to  
think about where this small opening she'd just made might  
lead, or whether she had used protocol as a shield, giving  
it more power than it truly had just to protect herself.  
  
Chakotay's arms tightened around her as if he sensed her  
jumbled thoughts, and she felt his silent support--the  
support that had always been there no matter what twists  
and turns their relationship had taken, personally and  
professionally.  
  
Tomorrow she would have to think about it all, because that  
was her nature. But for this little while she would let it  
go, and just be Kathryn--not the captain, and not Janeway,  
but the woman she sometimes feared she was allowing to slip  
away. Just Kathryn.  
  
"The world will always welcome lovers, as time goes by,"  
the doctor crooned.  
  
Relaxing completely, Kathryn rested her cheek against  
Chakotay's shoulder as they began to dance.  
  
  
  
  
  
Coming 10/22: Ragnarok I by Rocky: Four years ago, Voyager encountered the Borg   
for the first time. By dint of determination, and a fair share of luck, they   
managed to survive that initial meeting. Over the years, Voyager's path crossed   
that of the Borg repeatedly, sometimes by chance, once or twice by design. Each time   
Janeway's intrepid crew emerged victorious. But now great forces have been set   
in motion, and life on board Voyager will never be the same again. 


End file.
